PRACTICAL  •  PRINTING 


UC-NRLF 


*  GEORGE  «  SHERMAN* 


llbru, 

WOOL 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


PRACTICAL  PRINTING 

EXPLAINING 

THE  WAYS  AND  MEANS 

OF  PRODUCTION 

IN  THE 

MODERN  PRINTING 
PLANT 


By  GEORGE  SHERMAN 
n 


New  York 

Oswald  Publishing  Company 
1911 


tx' 


SCHOOL 


Copyright  1911  by  the 
Oswald  Publishing  Company 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

i  From  Apprentice  to  Journeyman         ....  1 

ii  The  Composition  of  Commercial  Forms        .      .  9 

in  Display  Composition 19 

iv  Bookwork 31 

v  Job  Composition,    Proof -making     and     Proof- 
reading         4>4> 

vi  Composing-room  Equipment 57 

vn  Facilitating  Composing-room  Production     .      .  68 

viii  Imposition  and  Lock-up 75 

ix  Platen  Presswork      „ 87 

x  Cylinder  Presswork 67 

xi   Printing  Inks 108 

xii   From  Superintendent  to  Shipper        .      .      .      .  117 

xni  In  the  Shipping-room    . 131 


225952 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Locking  miters  in  use 11 

Construction  of  locking  miters 12 

Brass  panel  and  corner  fonts 13 

An  example  of  brass  rule  designing 14 

Use  of  a  low  rule  in  tabular  work 16 

A  type  area  sketch 21 

A  letter  sketch 22 

Completed  type  design        23 

Table  of  space  calculation 24 

Table  of  ems  in  one  pound  of  type        25 

Enclosing  type  matter  in  irregular  mortise 26 

Table  of  sizes  and  weights  of  paper 33 

Table  of  type  and  leads  calculation 34 

Use  of  text  letter  in  title-page 36 

A  classic  chapter  heading        37 

A  hand-lettered  effect    . 39 

A  German  title-page 40 

A  reverse  plate  effect 42 

Letterhead  with  reader's  marks 50 

Letterhead  partly  corrected 51 

Table  of  proofreader's  marks 53 

Effective  proof  of  business  card 54 

Proofing  frame 56 

Serviceable  cabinet 58 

Brass  galley 59 

Yankee  job  stick 60 

Brass  type  gage 61 

Case  for  steel  composing  rules 62 

Case  for  brass  and  copper  spaces 64 

Small  set  of  gravers 65 

A  type-high  planer 66 

Combination  stone  and  cabinet 67 

Arrangement  for  medium  sized  shop 69 


List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

Index  to  cabinets 70 

Label  for  miscellaneous  character  cases 71 

Card  for  removed  cases 72 

Index  for  storage  of  cuts 73 

Job  ticket  bin        74 

Railroad  furniture 77 

The  midget  quoin 81 

Steel  skeleton  furniture 81 

Book-heading  chase        83 

Sectional  block 84 

Types  of  register  hooks 84 

Key  for  register  hook 85 

Patent  block 86 

Ratchet  .     .     .     , 86 

Types  of  form  racks        86 

An  ink  closet 93 

Modern  platen  press 95 

Feeding  mechanisms 109 

Use  of  the  latch  arm 103 

Modern  cylinder  press 104 

The  sheet  steel  trip  arm 105 

Valve  and  chamber    . 106 

Chart  for  harmonious  color  relations 112 

Job  ticket 118 

Job  record 119 

Composing-room  time  ticket 121 

Time  ticket 123 

Time  slip 126 

Proof  envelop 127 

Proof  receipt 128 

Combination  cutting  slip 128 

Special  job  ticket 129 

Patented  shipping  box        132 

Shipping  tag 133 

Package  label        133 

Reminder  and  re-order  blank 135 

Receipt 136 

Another  form  of  receipt 137 

Instructions  to  shipping  clerk 139 

Bundling  machine 140 


PREFACE 

TT  was  the  aim  of  the  author  and  publishers  of  this  book 
•*•  to  make  it  exactly  fit  its  title ;  that  is,  practical.  The 
methods  and  processes  described  have  been  tried  and 
proved.  The  recommendations  may  be  safely  followed, 
but  it  is  expected  that  the  advice  given  will  be  accepted 
as  merely  suggestive,  that  the  reader  will  think  for  him- 
self. Improvements  in  printing  machinery  and  methods 
follow  one  another  in  rapid  succession ;  the  reader  is  ad- 
vised before  purchasing  any  portion  of  the  equipment 
recommended  in  these  pages,  to  look  into  market  con- 
ditions carefully  so  as  to  get  the  latest  and  best  it  affords. 
The  publishers  will  always  be  glad  to  furnish  any  possi- 
ble information. 


CHAPTER  I 

From  Apprentice  to  Journeyman 

"  If  I  were  asked  to  give  advice  to  the  young  man  of  today,  I  would  say, 
'Take  one  thing  and  study  it,  learn  it  thoroly,  become  a  master  of  it.'  " — 
SIR  ALFRED  HARMSVVORTH,  English  millionaire  newspaper  proprietor. 

"  In  years  gone  by,  the  printing  trade,  in  common  with  many  other  occu- 
pations, was  confined,  restricted.  Those  were  the  days  when  one  man  com- 
pleted a  pair  of  shoes,  when  the  entire  suit  was  modeled,  cut  and  sewn  by 
a  single  tailor.  And  ofttimes  the  printer  edited  the  copy,  set  it  up,  locked 
it,  made  it  ready,  ran  it  off,  and,  after  wrapping  it,  delivered  it  to  the  cus- 
tomer. Then  the  all-around  man  was  not  only  an  advantage,  but  a  neces- 
sity. .  .  .  The  master  printers  of  today  seldom  claim  to  do  everything. 
They  will  announce  that  their  specialty  is  booklets,  catalogs  or  railroad 
work.  As  the  employers  have  abandoned  the  old-time  methods  and  adopted 
those  suitable  to  the  changed  conditions  of  the  present,  so  should  the  em- 
ployees—compositors and  pressmen  alike— strive  to  excel  in  one  particular. 
The  man  who  perfects  himself  in  some  one  special  thing  gains  the  fat  en- 
velop and  assures  himself  of  steady  employment." — JOHN  H.  CLAYTON. 

TECHNICALLY  the  making  of  the  most  successful 
journeyman  in   the  modern  printshop  means  the 
making  of  the  specialist.   This  is  the  plan  of  pres- 
ent-day instruction    in   the  workshop,   in   the  technical 
school  and  of  the  printing  trade  journal. 

In  the  fulfilment  of  this  idea  the  apprenticeship  period 
of  four  or  five  years  should  be  divided  so  as  to  permit  the 
young  man  to  apply  himself  to  the  all-around  duties  of 
the  composing-room  during  the  first  two  or  three  years. 
Careful  observation  of  his  tendencies,  or  his  proficiency  in 
any  one  particular  line,  will  enable  the  foreman  to  deter- 
mine the  specialty  for  which  he  is  best  fitted,  whether  it 
be  artistic  display  composition,  booklet  construction,  rule 

[1] 


2  Practical  Printing 

and  figure  work,  make-up,  imposition,  proofreading  or 
the  management  and  supervision  of  large  jobs  requiring 
four  or  five  men  in  their  completion.  The  last  two  years 
should  be  devoted  to  the  perfection  of  either  one  of  these 
special  qualifications.  Under  such  a  system  a  four-  or  five- 
years'  apprenticeship  will  bring  forth  fruitful  results  to 
the  employer  and  a  guarantee  of  maximum  wages  to  the 
journeyman. 

The  mercenary  motives  of  some  unscrupulous  employers 
are  too  frequently  responsible  for  the  indifferent  qualifi- 
cations of  commonplace  journeymen.  The  ambitious 
young  man  should  be  advised  of  this.  If  he  is  continu- 
ously assigned  to  the  duties  of  an  office  porter  or  an  errand 
boy  with  the  promise  of  a  trade  as  a  subterfuge  his  four 
or  five  years  of  apprenticeship  may  grant  him  a  journey- 
man's title  of  very  ordinary  value. 

Some  twenty  years  ago  an  unpromising  lad  entered 
the  employ  of  one  of  Pennsylvania's  most  successful  pub- 
lishers. In  less  than  a  week  it  was  discovered  that  the 
boy  was  utterly  unfitted  for  the  trade.  He  lacked  the 
necessary  common  school  education  and  he  was  not  of 
the  bent  and  stuff  productive  of  good  printers.  He  was 
unceremoniously  discharged  with  the  laconic  advice  to 
seek  employment  in  a  blacksmith  shop.  This  printshop 
sarcasm  was  accepted  in  a  literal  sense.  Today,  the  dis- 
charged printers'  apprentice  is  a  man  of  affluence  and 
wealth  and  the  products  of  his  wagon-shop  are  known  to 
every  user  of  heavy  vehicles  in  the  country. 

This  is  for  the  benefit  of  both  employer  and  apprentice 
and  it  is  intended  to  stimulate  the  employment  of  only 
such  boys  as  are  adapted  to  the  trade.  Hundreds  of  men 


From  Apprentice  to  Journeyman  3 

are  poor  printers  because  they  are  unfitted  for  the  busi- 
ness, and  they  are  unsuccessful  in  life  because  some  one 
failed  to  tell  them  to  quit  years  ago  and  take  up  black- 
smithing. 

No  boy  should  enter  a  printshop  as  an  apprentice 
under  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  should  not  be  permitted 
to  qualify  unless  he  is  able  to  show  the  results  of  a  gram- 
mar school  education.  If  compelled  to  go  to  work  before 
he  arrives  at  sixteen,  his  duties  should  be  confined  to  office 
and  shop  errands,  as  a  preliminary  to  entering  upon  a  reg- 
ular apprenticeship. 

On  the  very  first  day  of  his  actual  apprenticeship  he 
should  be  permitted  to  learn  the  cases.  He  should  be 
told  briefly  how  to  hold  the  stick,  how  to  stand  before 
the  frame,  how  to  grasp  the  letters,  and  above  all  to 
avoid  eagerness  to  attain  great  speed  in  setting.  False 
motions  are  always  acquired  during  these  first  days  of 
case  experience  by  the  over-zealous  boy  and  the  impedi- 
ment usually  lingers  during  his  life  at  the  business. 

An  old  case  of  ten  point  is  the  proper  thing  for  the 
beginner.  It  is  the  most  practical  size  for  the  young 
hands  to  pick  up  and  past  experience  has  proven  that 
the  fastest  compositors  have  developed  their  speed  from 
a  beginning  on  this  letter.  Use  no  other  than  perfectly 
spaced  and  properly  indented  reprint  book  copy,  leaded 
with  two-point  leads,  measure  no  less  than  twenty  ems 
or  more  than  twenty-five  ems.  Show  the  boy  how  to 
dump  his  stick  by  beginning  with  four  or  five  lines  and 
increasing  until  he  is  able  to  handle  an  entire  stickful 
with  proficiency.  Then  teach  him  how  to  lock  up  his 
galley  and  to  take  a  roller-press  proof.  Send  these  trial 


4  Practical  Printing 

proofs  thru  the  proof-room  in  regular  manner  and  permit 
some  journeyman  to  take  the  few  minutes'  time  to  point 
out  the  errors  in  composition  as  a  first  corrective  lesson. 
The  boy  who  is  unable  to  produce  a  fairly  correct  and 
moderately  well-spaced  proof  after  two  weeks'  work  at 
the  case,  allowing  say  four  or  five  hours'  actual  practice 
each  day,  is  not  intelligent  enough  or  does  not  possess 
sufficient  inclination  to  make  it  worth  while  to  continue 
him  as  a  composing-room  apprentice.  In  such  case  per- 
mit him  to  enter  as  an  apprentice  in  the  platen  press- 
room or  send  him  on  his  way  with  kindly  advice  to  seek 
employment  in  some  other  field. 

Distribution  of  display  type  should  not  be  attempted 
or  permitted  during  the  first  six-months'  apprenticeship. 
During  this  period  he  should  devote  some  of  his  time  to 
the  study  of  faces  with  similar  characteristics,  he  should 
learn  to  know  them  by  name,  by  studying  case  labels, 
type  founders'  specimens  and  the  advertisements  in  lead- 
ing trade  journals. 

The  second  period  of  six  months  may  be  devoted  to 
the  distribution  of  straight-line  display  composition.  Here 
is  where  the  young  apprentice  will  discover  a  wealth  of 
information  if  he  is  sufficiently  interested  in  his  work  to 
court  it.  He  should  be  alert  and  watch  the  dead  jobs  of 
the  best  journeymen  in  the  composing-room.  In  distrib- 
uting and  dismembering  the  rule,  line  and  letter  justifi- 
cations, he  should  note  the  manner  in  which  these  are 
put  together  and  endeavor  to  derive  something  of  value 
from  each  job. 

The  most  successful  boys  are  those  who  are  obliging 
to  the  journeymen,  who  do  not  object  to  looking  up  a 


From  Apprentice  to  Journeyman  5 

sort  occasionally  and  who  are  ever  ready  to  lend  their 
assistance  in  placing  materials  within  easy  reach.  For 
this  spirit  they  will  be  indirectly  compensated  by  infor- 
mation which  will  be  readily  imparted  to  them  by  the 
more  advanced  workmen.  The  boy  who  'knows  it  all"  in 
the  beginning  will  discover  that  he  has  much  to  learn 
many  years  afterward,  and  that  the  task  is  then  much 
more  difficult. 

Upon  entering  the  second  year  the  ambitious  appren- 
tice should  endeavor  to  secure  the  foreman's  consent  to 
his  becoming  an  assistant  or  understudy  of  some  proficient 
journeyman  in  charge  of  booklets,  monthly  publications 
and  other  large  work.  In  this  capacity  he  should  be  called 
upon  to  set  running  heads,  make  typographical  altera- 
tions, set  occasional  reprint  advertisements,  learn  to 
handle  linotype  slugs  and  monotype  metal,  proving  on 
the  Washington  hand  press,  and,  as  he  advances,  learn 
something  of  page  make-up,  which  includes  the  justifica- 
tion of  cuts  among  type  matter,  folioing,  tying,  shelving 
and  storing.  During  this  second-year  period  he  should 
advance  rapidly,  as  he  is  now  approaching  the  critical 
period  when  he  is  to  receive  his  finishing  touches  and 
when  he  is  to  be  allowed  to  try  out  his  originality.  This 
period  will  be  his  third  year. 

At  this  time  he  should  be  a  subscriber  and  a  regular 
reader  of  at  least  two  prominent  printing  trade  journals, 
for  he  must  now  acquaint  himself  with  the  prevailing 
styles  of  display  in  job  composition  and  the  most  ap- 
proved methods  of  mechanical  construction.  Detailed  an- 
alysis and  instruction  along  these  lines  will  be  covered 
in  succeeding  chapters. 


6  Practical  Printing 

Points  worthy  of  immediate  attention  to  the  third-year 
apprentice  in  the  job  shop  will  be  briefly  cited  here : 


In  setting  displayed  work  from  manuscript  copy  be 
sure  to  study  the  main  points  to  be  brought  out. 

Do  not  erroneously  emphasize  unimportant  parts  of  the 
text. 

Refrain  from  an  endeavor  to  show  too  many  faces. 
Always  remember  that  the  choicest  specimens  of  display 
composition  consist  of  simple,  well-chosen  lines  in  neat, 
straight -line  arrangement. 

Study  the  subject  of  appropriateness  in  the  use  of 
type.  In  other  words,  learn  to  understand  that  a  polite 
announcement  is  not  susceptible  to  the  same  treatment 
that  might  be  accorded  to  a  forceful  newspaper  advertise- 
ment, and  that  Blair,  Engravers'  Roman,  scripts  and 
other  imitations  of  copperplate  printing  and  lithography 
do  not  travel  in  company  with  the  more  common  letters 
generally  used  on  dodgers,  and  in  the  display  of  prac- 
tical business  forms. 

Space  all  lines  uniformly.  The  stoneman  will  discover 
poor  justification  to  your  detriment  if  you  persist  in  being 
careless. 

Do  not  attempt  chap-book  typography  and  letter- 
spaced  effects  until  you  have  thoroly  mastered  the 
mechanical  details  of  plain  printing. 

Study  alignment.  An  interesting  table  of  points  above 
and  points  below  for  lining  system  justification  will  be 
found  in  every  modern  type  founder's  specimen  book. 

The  slovenly  workman  is  generally  known  by  his  quad 
boxes.  Don't  permit  these  boxes  to  become  a  depository 


From  Apprentice  to  Journeyman  7 

for  wrong-fonts  and  broken  letters.  Be  neat  and  tidy  in 
the  disposition  of  material. 

Don't  imagine  that  your  ideas  are  far  above  those  of 
the  designer  of  your  copy,  or  the  lay-out  man.  If  he  sug- 
gests a  certain  line  or  a  certain  style  of  display,  it  will 
pay  you  to  adhere  to  it. 

Don't  mix  old-style  and  modern  letters  in  display  com- 
position. 

Make  a  detailed  study  of  rule  work  and  rule  joining. 
Above  all  do  not  cut  labor-saving  lengths  of  rule.  Any 
combination  can  be  made  without  cutting.  If  you  are 
confronted  with  a  difficulty  in  this  respect  it  will  be  well 
to  consult  some  one  who  is  acquainted  with  these  problems. 


After  the  apprentice  has  completed  his  third  year  in 
the  various  details  of  composing-room  performances  he 
should  begin  to  get  acquainted  with  his  bearings.  He 
should  know  whether  he  is  better  fitted  for  stonework  or 
for  display  composition,  or  whether  he  should  apply  him- 
self to  proofreading  or  any  of  the  other  specialties  into 
which  the  trade  is  now  substantially  divided. 

If  he  prefers  stonework  it  will  be  well  for  him  to  take 
about  six  months  of  the  fourth  year  on  the  platen  press 
stone.  This  will  give  him  adequate  instruction  in  the 
placing  of  locking  furniture,  the  use  of  quoins,  planing, 
the  lay-out  of  small  fours  and  eights  and  other  details.  To 
become  an  expert  on  the  book  stones  he  will  require  from 
two  to  three  years  of  continuous  experience  as  an  assist- 
ant to  the  regular  man  in  charge  of  this  work.  In  the 
meantime  he  should  consult  books  on  imposition,  the 
mechanism  and  adjustment  of  folding  machines,  margins, 


8  Practical  Printing 

nipper  and  guide  edges  and  paper  stock.  After  complet- 
ing a  thoro  training  in  all  of  these  departments  he  will 
emerge  a  finished  mechanic  with  every  prospect  of  ad- 
vancement, in  later  years,  to  the  position  of  foreman  or 
superintendent. 

One  reason  why  the  percentage  of  thoroly  competent 
journeymen  has  decreased  in  recent  years  lies  in  the  fact 
that  apprentices  are  too  frequently  permitted  to  use  their 
own  discretion  in  the  matter  of  perfecting  themselves. 
They  are  carelessly  hired  and  even  more  carelessly  fired, 
which  fosters  the  idea  that  the  trade  must  be  acquired 
thru  varied  ups  and  downs  in  a  number  of  shops.  While 
the  majority  of  master  printers  and  their  foremen  are  lax 
in  their  attention  to  the  apprentices  under  their  charge, 
the  parents  of  these  boys  are  even  more  careless  and  fre- 
quently antagonistic  to  stern  supervision. 

The  famous  printers  of  years  ago  were  not  left  to  sway 
to  the  whims  of  their  choice  in  this  manner.  All  were 
carefully  and  strictly  indentured,  a  system  which  virtually 
compelled  a  boy  to  serve  his  time  in  strict  accordance  to 
a  prescribed  system  of  instruction  and  advancement. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Composition  of  Commercial  Forms 

THE  construction  of  brass-rule  designs  for  commer- 
cial forms  and  the  use  of  rule  in  tabular  work  are 
subjects  worthy  the  attention  of  the  apprentice  who 
is  interested  in  job-room  mechanics. 

A  practical  man,  well  known  to  the  printing  world, 
speaks  of  brass  rule  in  the  following  terms : 

In  brass  rule  the  compositor  has  the  simplest  and  most  severe 
material.  Handled  wisely  and  with  the  proper  types,  the  use  of 
brass  rule  imparts  to  a  design  an  element  of  strength  and  a  high 
order  of  refinement  and  dignity.  Brass  rule  in  a  design  either  looks 
well,  commonplace,  or  decidedly  bad.  When  it  looks  well,  the  use 
is  simple,  direct,  and  honest,  and  is  invariably  the  work  of  the 
most  skilled  men  in  the  composing-room.  A  design  which  depends 
for  decorative  effect  upon  brass  rule  will  achieve  this  eifect  not 
so  much  from  what  a  compositor  has  done  as  from  what  he  has 
left  undone. 

In  building  panel  designs  it  is  a  matter  of  facility  to 
avoid  mitering.  A  joint  formed  by  square-butting  is  as 
good  as  a  mitered  joint  and  it  can  be  made  perfect  in  less 
time.  Imperfect  joints  lend  an  indifferent  appearance  to 
rule  work  and  a  visible  opening,  whether  butted  or  mitered, 
is  equally  displeasing.  For  this  reason  mitering  should  be 
done  only  when  absolutely  necessary,  or  when  one-piece 
parallel  rules  are  used. 

When  mitering   is  done   on  any  of  the  conventional 


10  Practical  Printing 

hand-lever  shaving  machines  the  rule  must  first  be  cut 
into  pieces  about  six  points  longer  than  the  sizes  re- 
quired. Adjust  the  machine  to  forty-five  degrees  for  a 
square  corner  and  cut  a  miter  at  one  end  of  each  rule. 
All  miter-shaving  machines  are  made  to  cut  deeper  at  the 
foot  of  the  rule  than  at  the  face,  which  tends  to  produce 
a  closed  joint.  The  machine  must  now  be  set  for  the  re- 
verse miter  and  for  accurate  length.  First,  move  the  tri- 
angle in  position  for  square-end  shaving,  and  then  set  the 
gage  with  twenty-four  point  em  quads.  These  should  be 
placed  in  body-to-body  arrangement,  as  there  is  more 
dependable  accuracy  in  bodies  than  in  sets.  Raise  the 
handle  so  that  the  knife  will  rest  against  the  very  top  of 
the  line  of  quads  and  then  move  the  gage  up  snugly  against 
the  other  end.  Tighten  the  thumb-screw.  Never  adjust 
the  gage  for  length  while  the  handle  is  down  with  the 
blade  resting  against  the  bottom  of  the  quad,  for,  if  you 
do,  the  rule  will  cut  a  trifle  short.  After  this  adjustment 
has  been  made  the  triangle  should  be  moved  to  forty -five 
degrees  for  mitering.  When  the  miters  are  cut,  the  feet 
of  the  rules  should  be  faced  on  a  piece  of  emery  paper  to 
remove  the  burr. 

The  best  joints  will  result  in  a  paneled  design  by  first 
completing  the  brass -rule  work  with  an  interior  filling  of 
new  metal  furniture.  The  type  should  not  be  inserted 
until  all  of  the  rule  work  has  been  completed. 

Finally,  however,  after  a  panel  design  has  been  cor- 
rectly constructed,  a  great  deal  depends  upon  the  lock-up 
and  make-ready  in  securing  perfect  rule-joinings.  Faulty 
locking  is  the  chief  cause  of  poor  joints.  Frequently, 
swelled  or  shrunken  wood  furniture  and  a  warped  chase 


The  Composition  of  Commercial  Forms    1 1 

will  prevent  a  perfectly  square  lock-up.  The  eye  may  be 
unable  to  detect  it,  which  emphasizes  the  necessity  of 
using  a  steel  square  on  all  forms  containing  panels  and 
rule-joinings.  The  quoins  should  be  tightened  with  the 
fingers  at  first  and  then  each  rule-joint  should  be  subjected 
to  individual  planing  with  the  smooth  end  of  a  boxwood 
quoin.  After  that,  slight  variations  in  the  hights  of  con- 
necting rules  can  be  readily  detected  with  the  fingers. 
These  joints  should  be  rubbed  down  and  faced  with  a 
Scotch  stone  or  a  small  bit  of  lithograph  stone.  Very  old 
and  badly -worn  rule  often  can  be  made  to  print  perfect 
corners  by  deftly  touching  up  the  joints  with  a  fine  jeweler 's 
file.  The  filed  joints  should  be  finished  with  a  facing  stone. 
Typefounders  have  devised  a  number  of  clever  wrinkles 
for  the  improvement  of  rule-joints,  many  of  which  are 
time-  and  labor -savers  in  addition.  Next  to  the  solid  and 


Figure  1 


brazed  corners  the  locking  miters  (Figures  1  and  2)  are 
recommended,  especially  in  the  bodies  four-point  and 
larger.  Mere  pressure  of  the  quoins  in  locking  tends  to 


12 


Practical  Printing 


draw  the  parts  together,  thus  forming  a  perfect  miter.  The 
interlocking  lugs  serve  properly  to  direct  the  parts  into 
position  as  the  form  is  being  fastened,  and  to  prevent  the 
leads  that  are  outside  the  type  from  entering  the  joint. 
High  metal  corner  quads  are  among  other  improvements 


Figures 

designed  to  lend  support  to  one-  and  two-point  rules  and 
to  lessen  the  tendency  of  these  weaker  rules  to  bend  in- 
wardly or  outwardly  at  the  corner  joinings. 

Very  pleasing  and  characterful  designs,  in  keeping  with 
the  tendency  toward  straight-line  effects  in  modern  deco- 
ration, may  be  produced  with  the  new  fonts  of  brass 
square  corners  and  solid  brass  panel  ends.  All  these  are 
labor-saving,  easy  to  assemble  and  justify,  and  readily  con- 
vertible to  many  uses.  A  series  of  these  fonts  is  shown, 
Figure  3,  and  their  availability  in  brass-rule  designing, 
Figure  4. 

The  practicability  of  setting  tabular  "work  in  one  measure 
across-page  with  the  aid  of  short -measure  slugs,  or  by 
casting  up  mentally  for  alignment,  was  demonstrated  by 
the  newspaper  compositor  of  the  hand-set  days.  This 
method  of  setting  tables  across-page  and  inserting  rules 


The  Composition  of  Commercial  Forms    13 

afterward  is  adhered  to  to  this  day  by  the  expert  rule- 
and-figure  printer,  and  it  is  the  only  method  by  which  this 
class  of  composition  can  be  handled  on  line-  and  letter- 


61 

Font  No.  1 

81                               101 

121 

1  Point  Face 

62 

Font  No.  Z 

82                               102 

122 

2  Point  Face 

ca 

Font  No.  3 

I                                  181 
C3 

4  Point  Face 

c: 

V    i 

Font  No.  4 
es          ee            as 

•     •     • 

84                  85 

103 

i      • 

106 

124 

125                                 129 

127 

Figure  3 

casting  machines.  The  Rogers  system,  as  applied  to  the 
linotype,  has  made  it  possible  and  practical  to  insert  verti- 
cal brass  rules  in  tabulated  machine  composition. 


Greeneville 

Dec  kl  e   Edge 

Book  and  Cover 

PAPER 


C.The  finest  line  of  paper  ever  put 
upon  the  market  for  books,  brochures, 
announcements, etc.  ^Printing  qualities 
unsurpassed.  C.Carried  by  the  leading 
dealers.  CSample  books  on  application 


MANUFACTURED  BY 

Charlestown    Paper 

C  ,*•**+  *%  ^  «  CHARLESTOWN 

ompany  MASS.  .U.S.A. 

B.  G.    BROWNE,  President  &•  Treasurer 


Figure  4 


The  Composition  of  Commercial  Forms    15 

Figure  5  shows  how  a  low  rule,  similar  to  the  Rogers 
low  rule,  is  used  to  advantage  in  hand-set  tabular  work. 
The  column-rules  (E)  are  supported  by  a  two-point 
shoulder  on  the  cross-rules  (C)  and  two-point  supporting 
spaces  (A)  of  whatever  type-body  used.  At  one  end  of 
the  table  regular  unnotched  pieces  (D)  of  cross-rule  may 
be  used.  Side  spaces  (B)  are  also  supplied  to  work  with 
the  type  figures  used.  These  side  spaces  are  cast  shoulder 
hight  and  are  en-set  or  figure-set  of  the  body  of  type  used. 
The  hight  of  the  shoulder  notch  on  the  cross -rule  (C)  and 
the  hight  to  which  supporting-type-spaces  (A)  are  cast  is 
such  that  leads,  slugs,  spaces  and  quads  of  regular  manu- 
facture may  be  used. 

The  composition  of  type-matter  to  register  perfectly  to 
machine -ruled  blank  lines  and  book -headings  is  another 
branch  of  typesetting  that  has  become  specialized.  The 
quickest  way  to  set  and  register  the  type-matter  for  a 
plain-ruled  box-heading,  consisting  of  a  single  line  of  type 
of  one  size,  is  as  follows  :  Cut  off  the  heading  of  the  ruled 
sheet  and  tip  this  narrow  strip  of  paper  to  the  bottom  of 
a  stick  set  to  even  ems  and  as  nearly  the  measure  of  the 
sheet  as  possible.  Set  the  type  on  this  strip  of  paper  and 
justify  each  word  in  the  center  of  the  space,  between  the 
respective  pairs  of  vertical  rules  allotted  thereto. 

But  this  method  is  hardly  practical  in  setting  the  more 
complicated  ruled  blanks,  in  which  the  headings  consist 
of  a  number  of  boxes  containing  matter  of  various  depths 
and  several  sizes  of  type,  and  marginal  or  side  lines  in 
addition.  Such  blanks  must  usually  be  set  in  two  sec- 
tions, each  separately — first  the  box-heading  and  then 
the  marginal  or  side  lines.  In  setting  the  heading,  place 


The  Composition  of  Commercial  Forms    17 

the  galley  on  the  frame  with  its  head  to  the  left,  just  the 
reverse  of  its  position  in  general  use.  Lay  the  ruled  sheet 
on  the  bottom  of  the  galley  with  the  foot  of  the  sheet  to 
the  lower  left-hand  corner.  A  reglet  or  slugs  of  some 
labor-saving  length,  long  enough  to  cover  the  heading, 
should  be  placed  over  the  sheet  at  the  side  of  the  galley 
as  a  foundation  to  work  against. 

All  of  the  matter  in  the  boxes  should  be  set  in  a  stick 
made  up  to  twelve-point  ems.  Commence  by  setting  the 
box  containing  the  greatest  amount  of  matter,  which  will 
establish  the  maximum  depth  of  the  box -headings.  Let 
us  suppose  this  box  to  contain  three  eight -point  lines, 
measuring  fifteen  twelve-point  ems.  Under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, the  difference  in  the  various  measures  of  the 
boxes  in  the  heading  would  require  a  number  of  changes 
in  the  set  of  the  stick.  The  experienced  book-heading 
printer  will  avoid  these  changes  by  setting  his  stick  to 
the  measure  of  the  widest  box.  If  this  measure  is  fifteen 
ems,  all  lesser  measures  will  be  secured  by  placing  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  twenty -four-point  quads  in  the  stick  to 
make  up  the  difference.  This  method  will  not  only  avoid 
changing  the  measure  of  the  stick,  but  it  will  at  once 
facilitate  composition,  in  that  it  will  give  greater  freedom  to 
the  fingers  in  making  justification  to  a  narrow  measure  in  a 
deep  stick.  Empty  the  matter  for  the  various  boxes  on  a 
neighboring  galley  and  lift  them  to  galley  containing  the 
ruled  sheet  in  the  order  required,  from  left  to  right.  The 
maximum  depth  of  the  headings  being  three  eight-point 
lines,  therefore  twenty -four-point  spacing  will  be  required 
between  the  various  sections  of  the  heading  to  register  all 
separate  items  between  the  respective  vertical  lines. 


18  Practical  Printing 

Next,  set  the  marginal  lines  in  some  measure,  governed 
chiefly  by  the  length  of  the  longest  line  and  the  size  of 
leads  and  slugs  most  plentiful  for  the  purpose.  Cut  a  nar- 
row strip  from  the  left  margin  of  the  ruled  sheet  and 
fasten  it  with  thumb  tacks  to  the  wooden  sides  of  an  old 
book -galley,  and  then  space  out  the  lines  accordingly  to 
register  with  the  ruled  lines.  The  heading  and  marginal 
lines  are  now  combined  into  one  job  and  the  whole  thing 
is  tested  finally  with  a  full  sheet  of  the  ruled  paper. 

Jobs  containing  a  great  number  of  vertical  and  hori- 
zontal lines,  intersecting  to  form  large  areas  of  ruled 
squares,  should  be  set  in  two  forms — down  rules  in  one 
and  cross  rules  in  another,  to  print  over  by  turning  or  whirl- 
ing the  sheet.  This  is  the  practical  and  profitable  method 
of  printing  editions  of  five  thousand  or  less  impressions. 

A  number  of  materials  usually  on  hand  in  almost  every 
printshop  are  available  as  substitutes  for  the  more  expen- 
sive zinc-etched  tint  blocks.  Common  press-board  is  easily 
cut  to  fit  any  enclosure  and  it  forms  a  suitable  printing 
surface  when  mounted  on  a  wood-base  of  proper  high:. 
The  durability  of  its  printing  surface  will  be  increased 
by  adding  a  coat  of  varnish  or  gum  guiacium.  Embossed 
cover-papers  of  tough  texture  also  may  be  used  to  advan- 
tage. Some  novel  tint  background  designs  may  be  pro- 
duced by  their  use.  One  printer  makes  excellent  and  profit- 
able use  of  a  scroll  saw  in  cutting  borders  and  large  wood- 
letter  display  lines.  He  uses  one-eighth-inch  maple  veneer 
for  the  purpose.  Wood-lines  and  other  designs  are  taken 
from  available  prints,  and  pasted  on  the  veneer  to  form  a 
pattern  for  sawing.  The  letters  and  designs  resulting  are 
then  mounted  oil  electrotype  bases  ready  for  printing. 


CHAPTER  III 

Display  Composition 

D [SPLAY  composition,  from  the  artistic  standpoint, 
has  been  more  thoroly  discussed  in  the  printing 
trade  journals  than  any  other  subject  relating  to 
the  graphic  arts.  The  subject  has  been  practically  ex- 
hausted. It  would  be  almost  impossible  to  write  a  chapter 
pertaining  to  the  purely  artistic  features  of  display  com- 
position without  repeating  what  has  been  said  on  the  sub- 
ject again  and  again  by  other  writers.  At  the  same  time, 
the  mechanical  and  the  truly  practical  part  of  composition 
has  been  noticeably  overlooked.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  one 
printer  can  readily  handle  all  the  aesthetic"  composition 
that  comes  to  the  average  composing-room  with  a  working 
force  of  twenty  men.  Therefore,  let  us  reverse  proportion 
in  the  character  of  trade  journal  and  technical  school  in- 
struction to  conform  more  equitably  with  the  above  ratio : 
Art  instruction,  1 ;  instruction  along  mechanical  and  prac- 
tical lines,  19.  The  trade  requires  more  skilled  mechanics, 
and  the  apprentice  should  endeavor  to  fit  himself  for  the 
most  promising  openings  of  the  future.  For  this  reason, 
this  chapter  is  intended  to  be  of  value  to  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  practical  side  of  job  composition. 

Lately  there  has  been  considerable  demand  for  men  who 
are  able  to  plan  and  lay  out  work  for  those  who  are  less  com- 
petent. Advertisements  of  this  character  are  common : 

[19] 


20  Practical  Printing 

WANTED. — A  job  printer  who  can  plan  and  work  out  ideas  in  advertise- 
ments, circulars  and  pamphlets  in  a  shop  employing  six  compositors.  Salary 
governed  by  the  applicant's  ability. 

These  advertisements  mean  that  it  is  v/orth  while  to 
study  charting  and  sketching  in  the  rough,  The  composi- 
tor who  is  able  to  "cast  up"  a  piece  of  poorly -prepared 
copy,  to  the  extent  of  denning  the  correct  sizes  of  display 
lines  and  body  type  to  be  used,  the  measures,  the  arrange- 
ment and  the  general  design  is  always  in  demand  at  a 
good  salary.  The  rough  sketch  is  an  item  of  facility.  It 
has  two  valuable  features  of  economy.  First,  it  enables  the 
finished  job  printer  to  use  the  entire  force  of  the  compo- 
sing-room when  there  is  a  rush  of  display  work  by  supply- 
ing the  less  competent  help  with  rough  outlines.  Second, 
the  rough  sketch  supplies  a  general  idea  of  the  completed 
job,  which  may  be  submitted  to  the  customer  as  a  substi- 
tute for  a  first  or  trial  proof.  If  the  sketched  idea  does  not 
conform  with  the  customer's  taste,  the  cost  is  little,  and 
the  plan  of  composition  may  be  changed,  while  the  printer 
avoids  the  embarrassment  of  adding  charges  for  alterations. 

A  little  study  and  practice  will  enable  any  printer  to 
cultivate  judgment  of  type  and  line  widths,  so  that  in  a 
short  time  it  will  be  easy  to  write  "set  in  twenty -four- 
point  Caslon  Bold,"  with  a  feeling  of  assurance  that  the 
line  will  fit  the  measure.  Rough -sketching  or  rapid  out- 
line-designing may  be  practiced  along  several  lines  to  ad- 
vantage. Letter-sketching  (Figure  7)  gives  a  detailed 
conception  of  the  general  typographical  appearance  of 
the  completed  job,  while  mere  type-area  sketching  (Figure 
6)  supplies  a  good  idea  of  plan,  proportion  and  balance. 
The  latter  method  is  the  more  rapid  of  the  two,  and  it  is  the 
most  practical  plan  to  pursue  in  sketching  typographical 


Figure  6 


GENERAL 
LEANDERI 


An  Illustrated  Story 
ffie  Colonial  Revolution 


GEORGE  HAROLD  BERNARD 

••^••••PHi 

~—L-Z 

Figure  7 


GENERAL 
LEANDER 


An  Illustrated  Story  <5f 
ffw  Colonial  Revolution 


GEORGE  HAROLD  BERNARD 


Figure  8 

Typography  and  design  by  Chas.  E.  Wagener 


24  Practical  Printing 

designs  for  the  exclusive  use  of  compositors.  Letter- 
sketches  will  be  more  acceptable  to  the  customer,  how- 
ever. Sketched  typographical  designs  may  be  improved 
in  appearance  by  pasting -in  proofs  of  title -pieces,  orna- 
ments and  borders  when  materials  of  this  kind  are  desig- 
nated for  decorative  purposes. 

Large  advertising  agencies  use  lay-out"  sheets  to  ad- 
vantage. These  sheets  are  cross-ruled  to  present  an  area  of 
twelve-point  squares  with  an  agate-line  scale  in  left-hand 
margin.  Lay-out  sheets  of  this  character,  for  use  in  design- 
ing and  rough -sketching  display  composition,  can  be  eco- 
nomically produced  by  faint-line  ruling  on  a  ruling-machine 
equipped  with  point -spaced  pens.  These  sheets  are  of  value 
in  gaging  display  lines  and  in  denning  body-type  areas. 

Legible,  well-prepared  copy  is  essential  to  rapid  and 
accurate  composition.  The  advent  of  line-  and  letter- 
casting  machines  has  created  the  necessity  of  rewriting 
poorly -pre  pared  copy  on  a  typewriter.  It  has  been  demon- 
strated that  this  plan  is  a  time-  and  money -saver  in  the  lino- 
type department,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  type-written 
manuscript  would  be  of  equal  value  to  display  compositor. 

In  calculating  the  amount  of  space  a  manuscript  will 
occupy,  this  table  may  be  used.  The  number  of  words  to 
the  square  inch  set  in  various  sizes  of  type  is  given.  Calcula- 
tions are  based  upon  types  of  average  or  medium  set.  Due 
allowance  must  be  made  for  lean  or  fat  types. 


18-point,  solid  

7 

10-point,  solid  21 

7-point,  solid  

38 

14-point,  solid  

11 

10-point,  leaded  16 

7-point,  leaded  .  .  . 

27 

12-point,  solid  

14 

9-point,  solid  28 

6-point,  solid  

47 

12-point,  leaded  .  . 

11 

9-point,  leaded  21 

6-point,  leaded  .  .  . 

34 

11-point,  solid  

17 

8-point,  solid  32 

5-point,  solid  

69 

11-point,  leaded  .. 

14 

8-point,  leaded  23 

5-point,  leaded  .  .  . 

50 

Display  Composition  25 

When  leaded  matter  is  specified  it  is  usually  understood 
that  the  lines  are  to  be  separated  with  two-point  leads. 
Double-leaded  refers  to  type-lines  separated  with  a  lead 
or  leads  equal  to  four  points  in  thickness.  One -point  leads 
are  seldom  used  for  spacing  large  quantities  of  text.  This 
size  is  usually  of  brass  and  it  is  generally  classed  as  line- 
and  letter- justify  ing  material. 

To  ascertain  the  quantity  of  plain  type  required  for  a 
certain  piece  of  work,  find  the  number  of  square  inches 
in  the  matter,  and  divide  the  same  by  four.  The  quotient 
will  be  the  approximate  weight  in  pounds.  As  it  is  im- 
possible to  set  all  of  the  boxes  uniformly  bare,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  add  twenty -five  per  cent  to  large  fonts,  and  forty 
per  cent  to  small  ones,  to  allow  for  uneven  quantities  of 
sorts  left  in  the  case.  The  number  of  ems  in  one  pound 
of  type  of  the  various  sizes,  is  approximately  as  follows : 


5-point 

829  ems 

7-point 

423  ems 

207  ems    1 

.  .  .  685  ems 

8-point.  .  .  . 

.  .     324  ems 

11-point 

6-point  .  .  . 

.   .   576  ems 

9-point 

256  ems 

144  ems 

One  pound  of  average  solid  type -matter  contains  about 
four  square  inches  of  printing  surface. 

Good  judgment  in  "casting-up"  large  quantities  of 
manuscript  to  correctly  fit  the  limited  confines  of  allotted 
type  area  must  be  acquired  by  practical  experience.  The 
foregoing  tables  will  be  of  assistance  to  the  studious  printer 
in  acquiring  this  experience.  When  it  becomes  necessary 
to  adapt  a  certain  amount  of  text  to  exactly  fit  the  in- 
terior of  an  irregular  drawing  (Figure  9)  the  value  of 
practical  knowledge  of  casting-up  asserts  itself. 

Judgment  in  setting  matter  for  limited  areas  of  this 


I 

£ 


Display  Composition  27 

kind  consists  in  knowing  what  sizes  of  type  to  select.  The 
mechanical  procedure  is  explained  in  the  next  paragraph. 

Separate,  well-inked  proofs  of  the  mortised  cut  should 
be  taken  on  regular  engraver's  proof-paper.  If  this  work 
is  done  on  a  Washington  hand  press,  a  large,  smooth- 
surfaced  tint -block  should  be  placed  on  the  bed  of  the 
press  to  substitute  the  cut,  after  each  proof  has  been 
pulled,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  transfer  or  offset  proof. 
This  proof  should  be  taken  on  much  thinner  paper  than 
that  used  for  the  originals.  Place  the  fresh,  well-inked 
original  proof  face  up  on  the  tint  block  and  then  lay  the 
transfer  sheet  directly  over  it.  The  best  offset  or  trans- 
ferred negative  will  result  if  a  few  sheets  of  smooth,  un- 
wrinkled  packing  are  placed  over  all.  This  offset  proof 
must  now  be  trimmed  square  to  fit  the  pan  of  a  stick  which 
has  been  set  to  some  suitable  measure.  A  tip  or  two  of 
paste  will  hold  the  slip  in  perfect  position  until  the  com- 
position is  completed.  The  matter  is  set  full  measure, 
across  the  proof-slip,  quadding  indentions  so  that  the  com- 
position will  follow  the  outlines  of  a  transfer.  By  this 
method  it  is  as  easy  to  follow  irregular  outlines  as  to  set 
straight  matter.  1 11  examples  such  as  Figure  9  it  is  a  mat- 
ter of  great  economy  to  set  the  type  to  one  measure  with 
the  guidance  of  an  offset  sheet,  electrotyping  and  patch - 
ing-in,  rather  than  to  adopt  the  obsolete  and  expensive 
method  of  justifying  separate  lines  inside  of  a  difficult 
mortise.  Figure  10  is  a  proof  of  an  electrotype  ready  for 
inserting  by  patching. 

A  few  suggestions  and  some  valuable  hints  on  job 
printing  mechanics  are  appended,  paragraphed  and  in 
condensed  form : 


28  Practical  Printing 

Avoid  an  excessive  amount  of  rule  work  and  intricate 
panel  designs  in  commercial  printing  for  practical  purposes. 
Manipulation  of  this  kind  adds  fifty  per  cent  to  the  cost 
of  composition  and  make-ready  without  adding  to  pleas- 
ing appearance. 

Make  good  use  of  white   space  as   an  illuminant  of 

type  matter.    It  makes  composition  easier  and  it  shows 

better  judgment   than   the  use   of  too  many  detractive 

ornaments. 

(  i      Adhere  to  a  single  series  of  type  in  plain  forms   for 

\prac tical  purposes. 

y  Space  display  lines  accurately  and  uniformly.  An  en 
quad  is  the  proper  word -spacing  for  the  medium  letter. 
For  the  extended  letter  use  no  less  than  two  three-em 
spaces  between  words  and  no  more  than  an  em  quad.  The 
extra  extended  letter  will  permit  of  spacing  with  an  em 
quad  and  a  three -em  space.  Be  careful  to  consider  and 
make  allowances  for  the  extra  space  created  by  words 
ending  with  open  letters,  such  as  A,  F,  J,  L,  P,  T,  V, 
W  and  Y. 

Imperfect  rule  joints  may  be  likened  unto  an  ugly 
scratch  across  a  beautiful  oil-painting.  Avoid  them  by 
accurate  mitering  and  careful  justification. 

A  plain  circular,  set  in  paragraphed  style,  with  an  ap- 
^propriate  initial  and  an  attractive  heading,  is  preferable 
to  a  mixture  of  display  faces. 

Avoid  a  combination  of  three  hyphens  as  a  substitute 
for  an  em-dash  in  display  lines.  A  rule  justified  with  point- 
set  spaces  is  preferable. 

In  separating  forms  for  color  work,  avoid  the  use  of  a 
great  number  of  leads  and  slugs.  Use  perfect  labor-saving 


Display  Composition  29 

furniture  whenever  possible.  Justifying  material  reduced 
to  a  minimum  number  of  pieces  will  guarantee  better  color 
register. 

Do  not  use  periods  as  word  ornaments.  They  are  poor 
decorators  and  when  widely  spaced  they  offer  little  resist- 
ance to  the  impression. 

The  use  of  script  in  date  lines  for  office  headings  is  an 
old-time  custom  not  in  keeping  with  good  typography. 
A  letter  in  harmony  with  the  remainder  of  the  display  is 
more  appropriate. 

Adhere  to  one  kind  of  rule  in  blank  forms.  Do  not  use 
dotted  lines  in  one  part  of  job  and  plain  rule  in  another. 

If  you  would  produce  a  solid  form  of  type  and  blank 
lines  do  not  justify  rules  to  type  with  slugs  and  leads  only. 
Quads,  used  with  rules,  will  produce  a  better  form  in 
every  way. 

Address  lines  set  "Chicago, Illinois,"  in  adver- 
tisement work  reveal  the  style  of  an  unfinished  printer. 

A  squared  and  letter-spaced  style  of  typography  used 
in  conjunction  with  the  long-  and  short-line  idea  on  the 
same  page  is  inharmonious  and  not  in  accord  with  good 
display. 

To  facilitate  distribution  place  all  final  spacing  of  quad 
lines  immediately  after  the  last  word  of  the  paragraph. 
Do  not  scatter  miscellaneous  spaces  among  the  quads. 

In  constructing  panels  to  surround  type-matter  the  top 
and  bottom  rules  should  always  lap  the  side  rules.  This 
relates  to  unmitered  panels. 

In  setting  the  text  for  a  stylish  booklet  avoid  excessive 
leading.  Ten -point  will  not  admit  of  more  than  three- 
point  leading,  while  twelve -point  type  should  be  confined 


30  Practical  Printing 

to  four-point  leading  or  less.  Rather  reduce  the  measure 
and  increase  the  margins  than  scatter  the  type  in  open 
order  over  the  entire  area  of  the  page. 

Study  the  alignment  of  initials  with  body-type  and 
endeavor  to  preserve  uniform  indention  of  matter  sur- 
rounding initials. 

Use  text  or  old-style  headings  over  old  style -body  type. 
Gothic  headings  and  headings  of  similar  character  should 
not  be  used  with  old-style  faces. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Bookwork 

THE  regular  sizes  of  commercial  book  papers  have 
been  established  by  the  conventional  proportions 
of  type-pages.  If  the  pages  of  a  book  are  to  be 
made  up  for  printing  on  a  paper  of  regular  size  it  is  an 
easy  matter  to  arrive  at  the  proper  type  measure  and  page- 
depth  by  dividing  both  sheet-length  and  sheet -width  by 
four,  and  deducting  trim  allowance.  This  applies  to  sixteen- 
page  signatures.  Accordingly,  twenty -five  by  thirty -eight, 
the  most  commonly-used  book  paper,  is  the  correct  size 
for  a  book  that  is  presumed  to  trim  to  six  by  nine  inches. 
Allowing  one  inch  for  outer  margins,  the  correct  measure 
would  be  twenty -four  ems  for  a  page  depth  of  forty -two 
ems.  To  print  a  thirty -two-page  form  on  one  side  of  the 
same  stock  would  require  type-pages  eighteen  by  twenty- 
seven  ems.  This  would  result  in  a  book  four  and  one -half 
by  six  inches,  trimmed. 

It  will  be  observed  that  book -papers  of  regular  com- 
mercial sizes  are  cut  to  conform  with  the  proportions  of 
two  to  three — that  is,  the  breadth  of  the  sheet  is  equal 
to  two-thirds  of  its  length,  or  nearly  so.  These  propor- 
tions also  should  govern  the  measure  and  depth  of  pages 
of  type-matter,  in  all  cases  of  conventional  book  im- 
position. Proportions  frequently  are  changed,  however, 
when  odd  and  novel  effects  are  intended  to  be  pro- 

[31] 


32  Practical  Printing 

duced  thru  the  medium  of  an  unequal  distribution  of 
margins. 

Make-up  for  the  most-used  book-papers  may  be  gov- 
erned by  the  following : 

A  sixteen-page  make-up  for  twenty-five  by  thirty-eight- 
inch  stock  will  produce  a  six  by  nine-inch  book.  Type- 
pages,  twenty-four  by  forty-two  ems. 

Thirty -two  pages  on  the  same  stock  will  produce  a  four 
and  one-half  by  six-inch  book.  Type-pages,  eighteen  by 
twenty-seven  ems. 

A  sixteen -page  make-up  for  twenty-eight  by  forty-two- 
inch  stock  will  produce  a  seven  by  ten-inch  book.  Type- 
pages,  thirty  by  forty -eight  ems. 

Thirty-two  pages  on  the  same  stock  will  produce  a  five 
by  seven-inch  book.  Type-pages,  twenty-two  by  thirty- 
two  ems. 

*  A  sixteen-page  make-up  for  thirty -two  by  forty-four- 
inch  stock  will  produce  a  seven  and  one-half  by  ten  and 
one-half  inch  book.  Type-pages,  thirty -two  by  thirty- 
five  ems. 

Thirty -two  pages  on  the  same  stock  will  produce  a  five 
and  one-quarter  by  seven  and  one-half  inch  book.  Type- 
pages,  twenty -four  by  thirty -six  ems. 

A  sixteen-page  make-up  for  thirty-six  by  forty-eight- 
inch  stock  will  produce  an  eight  and  one -half  by  eleven 
and  one-half  inch  book.  Type-pages,  thirty-six  by  fifty- 
four  ems. 

The  accompanying  table  ( Figure  1 1 )  is  of  value  in 
determining  comparative  weights  and  sizes  of  regular 
book  and  flat  papers  : 

In  estimating  the  quantity  of  type  and  leads  required 


XXXXXXXXXX 


i    i    i    i    i    i 


§! 


c  S  S  c  H  c  c 


O  tfi  U?  U5  ITS  (O 

ec  co  •*  -f  •*  o 


s »  *  .ss>  -:-  £ 

-I  Q        O       O~O     »- 

h. co- ^00 


-6 


2     

N 

i 


xxxxxxx          uxxxxxxxxx 


SSSSSfiS 


5x5 


II! 


a 

P 
Ill 


Figure  11 


34 


Practical  Printing 


for  books  of  various  sizes  this  table  may  be  used  as  a  basis 
for  reckoning  The  figures  are  based  on  a  uniform  meas- 
ure of  twenty-five  twelve-point  ems.  Estimates  for  shorter 
or  longer  measures  may  be  made  by  proportioning  the 
totals  accordingly. 


MEASURE  25  EMS 

c 

I 

to 

1 

ofc 

1 

12-point 

Ems  per  line  

50 

37^ 

30 

25 

Lines  to  1000  ems 

20 

33^ 

40 

Inches  to  1000  ems  .... 

\% 

iH 

63/4 

2-pt.  Leads  to  1000  <  m  3  

15 

21 

27% 

34J4 

3-pt  Leads  to  1000  ems  

131^ 

19^ 

25^j 

32 

To  find  the  number  of  pounds  of  type  required  for  a 
page  of  certain  size,  divide  the  square-inch  surface  of  the 
page  by  four  and  the  quotient  will  be  the  number  of 
pounds  of  type  required — solid  matter.  When  the  type 
is  to  be  leaded,  multiply  this  quotient  by  a  fraction  whose 
numerator  represents  the  point -thickness  of  the  leads  used 
and  whose  denominator  is  the  same  as  the  size  of  type 
used.  Subtract  this  result.  Thus,  a  twenty-four  by  forty- 
two-em  (four  by  seven  inches)  page  contains  twenty -eight 
square  inches;  divided  by  four  supplies  the  weight;  or 
seven  pounds  of  solid  matter.  If  ten-point  matter,  leaded 
with  two-point  leads  is  specified,  then  two-tenths  of  seven 
pounds,  one  and  two-fifth  pounds,  subtracted  from  seven 
pounds  leaves  five  and  three-fifth  pounds,  the  weight  of 
ten-point  type  required  for  the  above  page  leaded  with 
two -point  leads. 

No  matter  what  depth  of  type-page  may  be  required, 
it  is  always  advisable  to  have  the  make-up  in  conformity 


Bookwork  35 

with  the  length  of  standard  labor-saving  furniture.  Some- 
times to  do  this  it  may  be  necessary  to  add  two  or  three 
picas  in  leads  and  slugs  at  the  feet  or  heads  of  pages 
before  tying,  but  this  will  save  considerable  time  in  lock- 
ing and  stonework.  When  the  illustrations  lap  the  mar- 
gins or  extend  beyond  the  confines  of  type  it  is  customary 
to  increase  the  width  of  these  pages  either  two,  four  or 
six  ems  by  the  addition  of  slugs  or  metal  furniture.  Pages 
of  this  kind,  made  up  to  uneven  widths,  are  troublesome 
to  the  stoneman,  compelling  him  to  break  up  marginal 
furniture  and  not  infrequently  to  make  tedious  justifica- 
tions with  slugs,  leads  and  cardboard. 

In  edition  work  or  sewed  volumes,  bound  in  stiff  covers, 
the  order  of  pages  usually  is  as  follows:  1,  half-title;  2, 
blank ;  3,  full-title ;  4,  blank  or  copyright ;  5,  dedication ; 
6,  blank;  7,  preface;  8  contents;  9,  list  of  illustrations; 
10,  blank;  11,  beginning  of  text.  Appendix  begins  on 
first  left-hand  page  following  end  of  text;  then  follow 
glossary  and  index. 

Title-page  composition  as  applied  to  bound  volumes 
and  literary  works  is  subject  to  restriction.  Radical  de- 
partures from  recognized  forms  and  standards  are  not  per- 
missible. Capitals,  in  old-style  or  modern  romans,  are 
acceptable  styles  for  title-page  lettering,  and  these  may 
be  arranged  in  long -and -short -line  or  the  Puritan  or  Colo- 
nial squared  fashion,  but  must  conform  strictly  with  the 
chosen  style  of  the  text.  Black  letter  or  text  is  permissi- 
ble in  some  literary  title-pages,  but  only  when  used 
with  old-style  roman  as  shown  in  Figure  12.  A  classical 
chapter  heading,  with  rubricated  initial,  entirely  up  to  the 
requirements  of  an  edition  de  luxe  has  been  supplied  by 


THE  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 


OF 


BOSTON  AND   NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   &   COMPANY 

MDCCCCVI 


Figure  12 


VOYAGE 

AUTOUR 

DE    MA    CHAMBRE 


J'lL  est  glorieux  d'ouvrir 
une  nouvelle  carriere,  et  de 
paraitre  tout  a  coup  dans 
le  monde  savant,  un  livre 
de  decouvertes  a  la  main, 
comme  une  comete  *  inat- 
tendue  etincelle  dans  Fespace ! 


Figure  13 


1 


38  Practical  Printing 

Bruce  Rogers,  and  it  is  used  here  to  show  the  limitations 
of  display,  decoration  and  marginal  proportioning.  (Fig- 
ure 13.) 

The  title-page  of  the  commercial  booklet  offers  greater 
opportunity  for  the  exploitation  of  original  ideas  in  com- 
position. It  is  not  governed  by  the  foregoing  restrictions. 
Rule-work  ornamentation  and  color  may  be  used  in  mod- 
eration, and  there  is  no  limit  to  the  variety  of  styles  of 
lettering  and  composition  that  may  be  applied  with  pleas- 
ing effect  to  the  title-page  of  the  modern  advertising 
booklet.  Hand-lettering,  with  tinted  borders  and  back- 
ground and  harmonious  color  effects,  are  the  factors  that 
lend  a  characterful  touch  to  the  stylish  booklet  of  today. 
(Figure  14-.) 

The  sweeping  grace  of  German  title-page  composition 
and  decoration  is  illustrated  in  a  splendid  specimen  taken 
from  a  booklet  recently  issued  by  the  Rudhardsche  Type 
Foundry,  Offenbach-on-the-Main.  (Figure  15.) 

A  great  deal  might  be  said  of  means  of  improving  the 
appearance  of  the  text  pages  of  conventional  bookwork. 
Limited  space  permits  of  but  a  few  brief  notes  on  this 
point.  A  stiff,  rectangular  page  of  plain  reading  matter, 
without  initial  or  running  heading,  is  barren  and  unat- 
tractive, and  does  not  possess  the  touch  of  attraction  so 
desirable  in  the  advertising  booklet  of  today.  Stylish  run- 
ning headings  should  be  supplied  wherever  possible,  and 
there  is  no  end  to  the  variety  of  styles  in  headings  that 
may  be  used.  Letter-spaced  lines  in  roman  or  italic,  either 
with  or  without  rules ;  left  or  right-hand  headings,  en- 
closed with  brackets ;  novel  uses  of  the  folio,  either  in 
figures  or  spelled  out  in  roman  or  italic — these  are  but  a 


FIR.ST  -NATIONAL 
BAN  IV  OF  CHICAGO 

FIFLST    TRUSTS 
SAVINGS   BANK 


C  H  I 


O 


NATIONAL  SAFE 
DEPOSIT  COMPANY 


SOUVENIR, 
©  ©    J    £>    O  &"'  ©  ® 


Figure  14 


Scbriftcivlnitialen 
unbSdimucknadi 
3eid)nungcn  oon 
Profeffor  Bebrens 


in  Offenbac  am  ITlain 


Figure  15 


Bookwork  41 

few  of  the  devices  that  lend  interest  to  the  plain  page  of 
paragraphed  text.  To  these  may  be  added  a  pleasing 
touch  of  color  by  way  of  rubricated  paragraph  marks,  or 
tinted  brass-rule  enclosures.  A  stylish  initial  always 
serves  well  to  usher  in  the  beginning  of  a  new  chapter  or 
a  new  subject  of  the  text.  But  these  are  not  always  used 
wisely  and  well.  Neither  are  they  always  inserted  in  a 
workmanlike  manner.  The  alignment  of  initial  and  text 
is  too  frequently  neglected  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
note  the  use  of  a  modern  initial  with  old-style  body.  Then, 
too,  the  spacing  between  initial  and  surrounding  matter 
is  often  irregular,  too  open  or  too  narrow,  all  of  which 
mars  the  beauty  of  the  printed  page  as  a  whole. 

Reverse  plates,  showing  white  lettering  on  a  solid  back- 
ground, are  used  to  a  great  extent  for  booklet  covers  and 
title-pages.  (Figure  16.)  Printers  of  the  larger  cities,  who 
are  within  convenient  reach  of  the  engraver,  have  no 
trouble  in  securing  plates  of  this  character,  zinc-etched, 
at  a  nominal  cost.  The  designs  usually  are  set  in  substan- 
tial, open  lettering,  and  when  rules  are  used  they  should 
have  a  face  not  less  than  two  points  in  width.  After  the 
type-work  is  completed  it  must  be  proved  on  onion-skin 
and  bronzed.  This  proof,  sent  to  the  engraver,  is  placed 
in  a  regular  photographer's  printing  frame  with  a  sheet 
of  velox  or  some  other  developing  paper  and  exposed  to 
light.  The  transparency  of  the  onion-skin  permits  the 
light  to  act  upon  all  portions  of  the  developing  paper  ex- 
cept those  parts  protected  from  the  light  by  the  bronzed 
lettering.  After  immersing  the  sheet  thus  affected  into 
the  regular  developing  bath  it  will  show  the  design  and 
lettering  in  ivory  white  with  a  solid  black  background. 


AND 


IMPLEMENT 
PAINT 


ALSTON-LUCAS 
PAINT  Co. 


Figure  16 


Bookwork  43 

This  forms  the  finished  proof  for  the  etcher.  Printers 
who  are  far  removed  from  photo-engraving  houses  can 
make  perfect  proofs  of  this  character,  both  for  printing 
and  embossing,  with  little  trouble  and  small  expense.  A 
camera  is  not  necessary.  A  printing  frame,  at  seventy- 
five  cents,  a  dozen  sheets  of  velox,  a  few  M-Q  tubes  at 
five  cents  a  piece,  and  a  dime's  worth  of  common  hypo 
for  fixing,  forms  the  complete  outfit. 


CHAPTER  V 

Job  Composition,  Proof-Making  and 
Proof-Reading 

Job  Printing. — Reading  in  this  kind  of  work  must  be  very  care- 
ful, but  it  does  not  require  the  education  needed  for  either  of  the 
others.  [Reference  is  made  to  newspaper  and  book- work.]  The 
reader  should  be  quick  to  detect  wrong-fonts,  bad  letters,  false 
spacing  and  errors  in  style.  He  should,  also,  be  able  to  mark 
wrong  lines  and  wrong  methods,  and  to  point  out  how  changes 
should  be  made.  For  these  reasons,  he  should  be  an  expert  job 
printer.  Where  a  number  of  men  are  working  on  miscellaneous 
jobs,  it  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  some  of  them  did  not  mistake 
a  line  or  commit  an  error  in  getting  up  a  card  or  program,  or  that 
some  change  would  not  brighten  up  a  given  job  very  much. — 
"American  Dictionary  of  Printing  and  Bookmaking,"  published 
by  Howard  Lockwood  &  Co.,  New  York  City,  1894. 

THIS  paragraph  is  quoted  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing the  greatest  prevailing  error  in  the  selection  of 
commercial  readers.  Job  composition  proofreaders 
are  most  frequently  ill-chosen  because  of  the  opinion  that 
"it  does  not  require  the  education  needed  for  book  and 
newspaper  reading."  The  quotation  is  misguiding  and 
utterly  incompetent.  They  who  have  failed  to  appreciate 
the  truth  are  paying  dearly  for  the  fiddler.  And  they  who 
know — they  who  have  acquired  their  knowledge  through 
years  of  experience  as  commercial  printers — are  the  ones 
who  offer  radical  contradiction  to  the  assertion  by  employ- 
ing the  most  highly -educated  and  the  most  thoroly- 

[441 


Job  Composition,  Proof -Reading,  Etc.    45 

finished  mechanics  to  fill  these  positions.  To  these  they 
grant  the  maximum  salary  allowances  of  the  composing- 
room.  And  why?  Chiefly  because  the  display  composition 
proof-reader's  "O.  K. "  is  the  one  thing  that  either  makes 
or  breaks.  Not  infrequently  the  slightest  error  in  a  business 
form,  such  as  a  wrong-font,  a  misspelled  word,  an  incon- 
gruity in  display  or  a  misconception  of  style,  may  cause 
a  complete  loss  of  productive  labor  and  stock. 

Book  and  newspaper  readers  are  not  so  closely  and 
completely  surrounded  with  these  possibilities  of  costly 
consequence.  Typographical  errors,  misplaced  and  turned 
linotype  slugs,  are  of  such  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
modern  daily  as  to  be  overlooked  as  unavoidable  happen- 
ings. Even  a  case  of  extreme  carelessness,  such  as  the 
transposition  of  an  entire  handful  of  slugs  in  a  news  item, 
will  do  little  more  than  heap  the  editor's  wrath  upon  the 
make-up  and  the  proof-room.  Tomorrow  the  whole  matter 
will  be  forgotten  and  the  error  will  in  no  case  affect  profit 
and  loss  in  the  accounting  departments.  Admitting, 
however,  that  book -room  reading  requires  greater  accu- 
racy and  keener  comprehension  of  typographical  perfec- 
tion, there  is  yet  a  wide  margin  of  difference  between 
the  required  skill  and  education  of  the  book  and  the  com- 
mercial reader.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  responsibility 
for  error  in  book  reading  does  not  end  in  the  proof-room. 
Rather,  from  here  it  goes  to  the  author,  accompanying 
the  revise,  thus  converting  this  branch  of  reading  into 
a  mere  automatic  performance,  with  responsibilities 
extending  only  to  departures  from  actual  copy.  And, 
then,  after  all,  if  errors  slip  through,  it  is  hardly  possible 
that  they  would  offer  cause  to  reprint  an  entire  edition. 


46  Practical  Printing 

The  commercial  proofreader's  duties  may  be  summed 
up  as  follows :  He  must  collect  and  arrange  the  various 

takes, ' '  or  pages  of  copy,  in  consecutive  order ;  he  must 
read  and  revise  it  as  many  times  as  shall  be  necessary ; 
he  must  paste  up  the  final  proof,  or  " dummy,"  in  a 
presentable  manner,  showing  stock  to  be  employed  and 
color  of  ink,  when  the  latter  is  requested ;  and  he  must 
gather  up  and  put  away  the  copy  for  each  job  in  a  system- 
atic manner,  so  that  it  may  be  referred  to  at  any  time  in 
the  future.  Some  of  the  large  and  well-regulated  shops 
have  given  a  deal  of  consideration  to  the  matter  of  stor- 
ing copy,  even  to  the  extent  of  providing  a  special  fire- 
proof vault  for  the  purpose.  Wherever  employed,  this 
system  is  of  great  service  and  profitable.  Large,  commodi- 
ous envelops,  or  paper  bags,  are  employed  as  copy  en- 
closures, and  these  are  numbered  to  correspond  with  the 
job  ticket,  for  convenience  in  making  reference.  Fre- 
quently a  reproduction  of  a  certain  manuscript,  or  refer- 
ence thereto,  is  required  years  after  the  copy  has  been 
consigned  to  the  vault,  and  it  is,  in  such  cases,  that  the 
value  of  this  system  of  storing  is  appreciated. 

Copy-holder. — Those  who  hold  the  copy  for  proofreaders  who 
read  to  them.  To  do  this  well  requires  much  experience.  In  most 
places  this  labor  is  performed  by  boys,  but,  in  many  of  the  larger 
offices  thruout  the  Union,  girls  or  young  women  are  thus  employed. 
They  have  usually  better  education  than  boys,  and,  if  properly 
trained,  become  very  valuable.  They  are,  too,  less  expensive  than 
men  would  be. 

Again,  I  am  quoting  from  the  "American  Dictionary  of 
Printing. ' '  And,  again,  I  must  point  out  an  error  that  has 
been  extremely  detrimental  to  accurate  proof-reading.  It  is 


Job  Composition,  Proof -Reading,  Etc.    47 

the  unreliable  and  dangerous  system  of  reading  to  the  copy- 
holder. Here  is  a  first  cause  fora  multitude  of  errors,  "in 
most  places  this  labor  is  performed  by  boys,  but,  in  many 
of  the  larger  offices  thruout  the  Union,  girls  or  young 
women  are  thus  employed."  In  other  words,  boys  and 
girls,  necessarily  at  beginner's  wages,  are  employed  as 
copy -holders.  How  can  we  expect  such  as  these  to  be  in- 
fallibly accurate.  Is  it  not  possible  that  $5.63"  may 
appear  on  the  proof  instead  of  $8.63,"  as  per  copy,  or 
"John  J.  Brown,"  instead  of  "John  I.  Brown?"  And, 
is  it  not  likely,  that  the  young,  inexperienced  mind  may 
overlook  the  error  thru  hurried  reading  ?  How  much  more 
practical  and  more  assuredly  safe  to  permit  the  holder  to 
do  the  reading  in  all  cases.  Surely,  the  experienced  proof- 
reader will  be  more  apt  to  catch  an  omission  or  an  error 
than  the  unpracticed  eye  of  a  boy. 

A  better  plan,  and  one  that  is  meeting  with  success  in 
the  larger  commercial  houses,  is  to  subject  all  small  jobs 
and  business  headings  to  two  readings.  The  first  reading 
is  by  the  copy-holder ;  the  re-reading  by  the  proofreader. 
The  accuracy  of  this  plan  has  been  demonstrated  in  a 
large  shop  where  not  a  single  error  in  commercial  read- 
ing was  passed  in  an  entire  year. 

Brains  are  not  alone  necessary  to  the  adequate  equip- 
ment of  an  efficient  proof-room.  There  should  be  a  good 
reference  library,  consisting  chiefly  of  three  dictionaries 
— Webster's,  Worcester's  and  the  Century — a  city  direct- 
ory, up  to  date ;  a  telephone  directory ;  the  latest  revised 
gazetteer,  or  a  list  of  post-offices  in  the  United  States ;  a 
complete  atlas  of  the  world,  and,  if  the  house  can  afford 
it,  a  set  of  Americanized  Encyclopedia  should  be  included. 


48  Practical  Printing 

To  this  equipment  should  be  added  a  good  reading  glass, 
a  line  gage  with  twelve-  and  six-point  gradations,  calen- 
dars of  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  following  year, 
fountain  pens  and  pencils,  a  pair  of  scissors,  a  square  and 
rule,  black  fluid  ink,  and,  at  least,  two  other  colors  for 
inserting  special  corrections  and  notes ;  a  blue  and  a  red 
pencil,  a  set  of  cards,  containing  all  the  commercial  sizes, 
for  making  panel-embossed  proofs;  postal  cards  and 
ruled  commercial  headings  for  verifying  type -areas,  and 
an  indexed  card  inventory  of  the  type-faces  of  the  com- 
posing-room. 

An  entire  volume  might  be  devoted  to  each  of  a  number 
of  subjects  treating  on  proof-reading,  and,  in  fact,  text- 
books on  the  following  subjects  may  be  secured  at  any 
complete  book  stand:  "Capitalization,"  "Punctuation," 

Compound  Words, ' '  and  * '  Style.  "  While  many  of  these 
are  valuable  aids  to  the  job  composition  proofreader,  there 
still  remains  to  be  brought  out  a  book  that  will  deal  more 
directly  with  the  technique  of  style  as  related  to  display 
composition,  showing  how  correctly  to  mark  and  dispose 
of  the  title-page,  the  ruled  heading,  headings  for  office 
forms,  society  stationery,  professional  and  business  cards, 
legal  blanks,  posters  and  agency  advertisements.  In  the 
limited  space  alloted  to  this  subject,  in  a  series  of  articles 
designed  to  cover  many  branches  of  the  trade,  information 
of  this  kind  must  necessarily  be  brief  and  to  the  point. 

In  modern  display  composition  it  is  customary  to  elimi- 
nate periods  when  they  appear  as  terminals  of  lines.  It 
is  contended,  by  persons  of  authority  and  good  taste,  that 
punctuation  of  this  kind  is  detrimental  to  artistic  appear- 
ance. If  this  style  has  been  adopted  in  a  certain  piece  of 


Job  Composition,  Proof -Reading,  Etc.    49 

composition,  the  proofreader  should  be  careful  to  note 
that  the  idea  is  adhered  to  thruout. 

Accuracy  and  uniformity  in  the  spacing  of  display  lines 
is  essential.  The  proofreader  must  not  fail  to  make  deduc- 
tions and  allowances  for  the  extra  white  space  created  by 
such  letters  as  the  capitals  A,  L,  V,  W,  etc. 

Do  not  permit  a  compositor  to  use  dotted  rule  in  one 
portion  of  a  ruled  blank  and  plain  rule  in  another.  Call 
his  attention  to  such  errors  on  the  proof. 

Mark  discrepancies  in  the  alignment  of  capitals  with 
smaller  capitals  when  used  together  in  the  same  line. 
Note,  also,  that  rules  are  lined  perfectly  with  type-matter. 

In  ruled  blank  work  and  legal  forms,  be  careful  to  ob- 
serve that  all  rules  are  spaced  equal  distances  apart. 

Order  certain  lines  reset  whenever  the  compositor 
makes  indiscriminate  use  of  more  than  two  or  three  display 
faces  in  a  simple  form  of  address  or  a  commercial  head- 
ing. Make  him  observe  harmony  in  the  use  of  type. 

When  a  display  line,  similar  to  "John  Brown  &  Co.," 
is  set  in  capitals  with  initials  of  a  larger  size,  do  not  permit 
the  compositor  to  use  a  small  capital  short  "and. "  Mark 
capitals  by  underscoring,  thus  ^^. 

When  a  fifteen-  or  twenty -em  rule  is  used  as  a  blank 
for  a  date-line  in  a  letterhead  or  billhead,  cut  it  down  to 
eight  or  ten  ems.  This  will  improve  the  appearance  of 
the  job  and  the  shorter  space  is  sufficient. 

When  a  rule  is  inserted  in  the  date-line  of  an  unruled 
letterhead,  mark  it  out.  It  is  presumed  that  paper  of  this 
character  is  for  use  on  a  typewriter. 

Be  sure  to  note  the  measure  and  depth  of  type-matter. 
Careless  compositors  frequently  exceed  the  limitations  of 


yajV! 

5?  i 


52  Practical  Printing 

space.  Study  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  various 
fonts  of  text.  Remember  that  it  is  easy  to  mistake  a  capi- 
tal R  for  a  capital  K,  or  an  I  for  a  J.  These  are  diffi- 
cult lines  to  read  in  both  capitals  and  lower-case  and  the 
proofreader  must  observe  closely. 

Make  the  compositor  change  the  composition  if  he  at- 
tempts to  use  the  squared  style  and  the  long-and-short- 
line  effect  on  the  same  page. 

Correct  "The  Brown  Company,  manufacturers  of"  to 
read  *  manufacturer  of."  Rule. — A  noun  in  apposition 
must  agree  with  its  subject  in  number.  But,  remember  that 

company"  is  used  collectively,  and  for  this  reason  may 
either  take  the  singular  or  plural  verb,  according  to  the 
context.  Thus,  when  used  as  an  entity  a  singular  verb  is 
required,  as  "The  company  has  erected  a  new  building.  " 
When  individuals  are  referred  to,  as  "The  company  are 
all  of  the  same  opinion,"  a  plural  verb  is  used. 

A  common  error  in  display  composition  is  found  in  the 
following:  James  Stillson  &  Co.,  manufacturers  and 
dealers  in  farming  implements."  Correct  this  to  read 
"manufacturers  of  and  dealers  in,"  if  such  is  the  mean- 
ing to  be  conveyed. 

If  the  copy  reads  "The  Brown  Hardware  Company, 
dealer  in  hardware  and  building  materials,"  do  not  per- 
mit the  compositor  to  apply  extraordinary  display  to  the 
second  appearance  of  "hardware."  This  is  unnecessary 
when  the  business  is  incorporated  in  the  firm  name.  Elimi- 
nate underscoring  when  used  to  excess.  Overpaneling 
likewise.  Discourage  the  use  of  periods  for  word  orna- 
ments by  liberal  use  of  the  out -mark. 

Watch  the  spacing  between  display  lines.   Make  the 


Job  Composition,  Proof -Reading,  Etc.    53 

compositor  practice  grouping  and  clustering  in  preference 
to  scattering  display,  in  open  order,  over  the  entire  space 
allotted  to  type -matter. 


Explanation  of  proofreader's  marks. — 1,  move  to  the  left;  2,  small  caps; 
3,  capitals;  4,  set  in  italics;  5,  set  in  roman;  6,  spell  out;  7,  flush,  or  no 
paragraph;  8,  paragraph  indention;  9,  run  in;  10,  insert  space;  11,  eliminate 
space;  12,  line  up;  13,  set  in  lower  case;  14,  correct  bad  letter;  15,  right-hand 
quotation  marks;  16,  left-hand  quotation  marks;  17,  apostrophe;  18,  comma; 
19,  period;  20,  space;  21,  disregard  out-mark;  22,  same  as  21,  or  "  no  correc- 
tion;" 23,  letter  inverted;  24,  take  out  letters  or  words  marked;  25,  see  copy 
for  omission  on  proof;  26,  take  out  two-point  lead;  27,  close  up;  28,  insert 
em  quad;  29,  insert  en  quad;  30,  run  back  to  preceding  line:  31,  transpose; 
82,  wrong-font;  33,  transpose  words;  34,  push  down  space;  35,  insert  letter 
indicated;  36,  em  dash;  37,  en  dash;  38,  cross  indicating  letter  to  be  changed 
or  removed;  39,  close  rule-joint:  40,  letter-space;  41,  hyphen;  42,  query  copy; 
43,  boldface  type;  44,  abbreviate;  45,  center  words  or  heading;  46,  matter  to 
be  eliminated;  47,  revise. 

Figure  19 

Mark  bad  rule -joinings  and  observe  closely  that  rules  are 
uniform  in  weight,  in  the  same  line,  or  in  a  continuous  de- 
sign. Badly  worn  or  heavier-faced  rules  should  be  changed. 

Cut  out  excessive  ornamentation. 

A  portion  of  the  foregoing  corrective  lesson  has  been 


54 


Practical  Printing 


applied  in  a  practical  manner  to  a  letterhead  proof. 
(Figure  17.)  In  this  example  the  proofreader's  marks  are 
more  analytical  in  character  than  the  usual  book  reader's 
corrections.  It  demonstrates  that  a  thoro  knowledge  of 
correct  typographical  construction  is  more  essential  in 
job  composition  proof-reading  than  in  straight-matter 
reading.  Figure  18  is  a  reproduction  of  the  same  letter- 
head, partially  corrected,  showing  how  the  proofreader 
may  lend  his  assistance  to  the  improvement  of  commercial 
printing. 


.  JOHRPII  BORK 


0i,r»  HIMPMON  MAMKKT 


I 

15 


SOLICITING  YOCR  PATBONAGK. 

WE  REMAIN.  YOl'HS  TO  HKHVK. 

C.  P.  CHAPMAN  &  COMPANY 


Figure  20 


A  chart,  showing  an  indexed  list  of  proofreader's  marks, 
with  explanatory  notes,  is  added  for  the  instruction  of  the 
student  in  job  composition  and  proof-reading.  (Figure  19.) 

When  proofs  are  requested  by  the  customer  it  is  advis- 
able that  they  should  convey  a  general  idea  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  finished  job.  Very  frequently,  the  first  proof 
submitted  has  much  to  do  with  formulating  a  customer's 
opinion  of  the  ability  of  the  printer  with  whom  he  deals. 


Job  Composition,  Proof -Reading,  Etc.    55 

Hand -press  proofs  on  the  actual  stock  to  be  employed  are 
preferred.  In  all  cases,  however,  where  the  stock  does 
not  lend  itself  readily  to  a  perfect  impression  on  the  hand 
press,  the  best  grade  of  engravers'  proof-paper  should  be 
employed.  A  clear,  snow-white  stock,  enameled  on  one 
side  only,  of  heavy  weight  (preferably  one  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds)  is  recommended.  Black  and  white  proofs 
of  this  kind  should  be  accompanied  by  a  sample  sheet  of 
the  actual  stock  ordered.  Ruled  headings  should  be 
proofed  on  french-folio  or  onion-skin  and  pasted  over  a 
finished  sheet  of  the  machine  ruling.  The  proofing-paper 
bin  should  be  always  well  filled  with  sheets  of  the  follow- 
ing sizes:  6x9,  8%xll,  8%xl4  and  14x17. 

Proofs  of  business  cards,  invitations,  commercial  head- 
ings and  like  forms  may  be  improved  by  a  simple  method 
of  embossing  to  show  the  outlines  of  the  stock  in  relief. 
For  this  purpose  a  set  of  accurately-sized  cards  is  usually 
employed.  The  proof  on  enameled  paper  is  placed  against 
a  window-pane,  between  the  light  and  the  worker.  By 
this  means  the  compositor  will  be  enabled  to  register  the 
form  over  the  cardboard  which  is  placed  behind  the  proof. 
Then  a  sheet  of  french-folio  is  placed  over  all  and  the 
outlines  of  the  card  are  heavily  traced  with  a  pencil  to 
cause  the  apparent  outer  edge  of  the  stock  to  stand  out 
in  bold  relief.  The  effect  is  similar  to  Figure  20. 

A  simple  method  of  registering  two-color  hand-press 
proofs,  as  employed  by  a  number  of  printers,  is  worthy 
of  attention. 

A  proofing-frame,  made  of  four  dovetailed  pieces  of 
ten-em  wood  furniture  (Figure  2l),  is  placed  on  the  bed 
of  the  press.  The  type-form,  well  tied  with  page-cord, 


56  Practical  Printing 

is  then  placed  within  this  wooden  enclosure  and  held  in 
position  with  a  single  pair  of  Hempel  quoins,  tightened 
with  the  fingers.  Four  common  pins,  fastened  in  the 
frame  as  indicated  in  the  drawing,  with  points  protruding 


rr 


Figure  21 

slightly  above  type-hight  are  used  as  registering  devices. 
The  form  is  first  inked  in  one  color,  and  a  frisket  sheet  is 
placed  over  the  color  to  be  eliminated.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  projecting  points  will  make  small  perforations  in  the 
margins  of  the  sheet  in  pulling  the  first  color  proof.  The 
form  is  then  washed  for  the  second  color,  and  again  a 
frisket  is  used  to  blot  out  the  lines  appearing  in  the  first 
impression.  In  taking  the  second  color,  the  perforations 
in  the  first  proof-sheet  are  placed  over  the  points,  and 
after  pulling  the  lever  a  perfectly  registered  two-color 
proof  will  result . 


CHAPTER  VI 

Composing- Room  Equipment 

THE  equipment  and  general  arrangement  of  the 
composing-room  will  be  given  first  consideration  as 
items  of  importance  to  economical  production.  The 
up-to-date  wood  goods  catalog  and  the  typefounder's 
specimen  book  are  alive  with  suggestions  pertaining  to 
the  selection  of  tools,  appliances,  cabinets,  imposing 
stones  and  foundry  products.  These  sources  of  informa- 
tion are  comprehensive  and  replete.  To  the  man  who 
would  begin  a  small  business  of  his  own  with  a  limited 
amount  of  capital  these  suggestions  are  rather  bewilder- 
ing and  not  at  all  in  accord  with  the  limitations  of  his 
bank-roll.  It  requires  a  vast  amount  of  knowledge  and 
keen  business  judgment,  of  the  kind  acquired  thru  years 
of  practical  experience,  to  know  just  what  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  a  good  and  adequate  equipment,  what  are 
sure  and  certain  money  makers  and  labor  economizers, 
and  what  items  of  the  cataloged  tools,  utensils  and  foundry 
products  may  well  and  safely  be  eliminated. 

Of  course  there  are  tools,  devices  and  machines  pur- 
posely designed  to  suit  the  requirements  of  the  specialist. 
Most  of  these  would  be  useless  to  the  book  and  job 
printer.  As  these  articles  are  designed  to  be  of  especial 
value  to  this  latter  and  most  extensive  class,  it  is  pro- 
posed to  describe  an  ideal  equipment  exactly  suited  to 

[57] 


Composing- Room  Equipment  59 

the  requirements.  Only  the  best,  the  tried  and  the 
proven  of  the  many  will  be  selected  and  combined  into 
one  complete  plant — the  ideal  composing-room. 

Usually  the  bulk  of  the  composing-room  investment  is 
in  type.  Also,  at  the  same  time,  most  of  the  money  care- 
lessly wasted  may  be  attributed  to  short-sighted  selection 


Figure  23 

and  injudicious  buying  for  this  part  of  the  equipment. 
On  this  point  I  will  repeat  a  little  philosophical  advice 
embodied  in  one  of  my  articles  of  a  few  years  ago. 

"The  type  salesman  who  attempts  to  instal  a  sprink- 
ling of  the  entire  products  of  the  foundry  he  represents, 
without  regard  for  the  limited  means  of  the  buyer,  should 
be  avoided.  It  is  a  matter  of  economy  as  well  as  shrewd 
discrimination  to  adhere  to  a  foundry  that  produces  a  rea- 
sonable number  of  sensible  and  desirable  new  faces  each 
year.  By  this  method  you  are  sure  to  get  full  value  out 
of  each  font  purchased,  you  avoid  the  danger  of  buying 
short-lived  faces  and  of  crowding  your  composing-room 
with  useless  cabinets,  and  you  are  sure  to  get  faces  de- 
manded by  popular  taste.  To  produce  good  work  you 
must  buy  complete  series,  in  all  the  sizes,  which  are  usu- 


60  Practical  Printing 

ally  thirteen  in  number.  Avoid  big  jumps,  as  it  may 
necessitate  setting  certain  lines  in  type  entirely  unsuitable 
as  a  companion  to  the  body  and  principal  display. ' ' 

Space  does  not  permit  of  enumerating  a  complete  list 
of  the  most  serviceable  faces  for  all-around  purposes. 
However,  the  best  advice  on  this  point  may  be  set  forth 
in  a  single  paragraph : 

Limit  your  number  of  faces  to  twelve  or  thereabout, 
and  be  sure  that  all  of  these  belong  to  the  class  of  general 
utility  letters.  Each  of  these  should  be  represented  in 
complete  series  and  in  judicious  quantities.  Spaces  and 
quads,  being  the  chief  items  necessary  to  facilitate  com- 
position, should  be  purchased  in  extra  large  quantities. 
For,  is  it  not  a  fact  that  spacing  material,  one  of  the 
most  inexpensive  of  foundry  products,  is  usually  lacking 
in  quantity  in  the  majority  of  composing-rooms? 

To  emphasize  the  shrewd  judgment  of  the  printer  who 
curtails  the  number  of  his  type-faces,  I  would  cite  an  in- 
stance of  success  attained  by  the  use  of  but  one  single  and 
complete  series.  This  plan  was  adopted  and  adhered  to 


Figure  24 

for  more  than  a  year,  with  pronounced  success,  by  A.  Lin- 
den, of  Denver,  Colo.  In  1905  Mr.  Linden  produced  a 
comprehensive  portfolio  of  high-grade  specimens  of  com- 
mercial printing  in  which  Caslon  and  Caslon  Italic  were  used 
exclusively  in  securing  a  wide  and  varied  range  of  effects. 


Composing- Room  Equipment  61 

The  following  limited  selection  of  faces  will  prove  eco- 
nomical, practical  and  highly  suitable  for  all  purposes. 

Caslon,  in  two  or  three  weights,  with  italics  to  match. 

Caslon  or  Priory  Text  or  any  other  text  of  similar  char- 
acter. 

One  series  of  rugged  design,  which  may  be  either 
Pabst,  Powel,  Dorsey,  McFarland  or  similar  letter,  with 
accompanying  italics. 

Gothics,  in  about  three  weights,  with  accompanying 
series  of  Condensed  Gothics  of  medium  set. 

Three  or  four  series  of  card  letters,  for  society  print- 
ing, all  adaptations  from  the  engraved  designs  of  plate 
printers. 

The  above  are  sufficient  for  the  general  purposes  of  the 
medium-sized  commercial  printing  plant,  but  the  addi- 
tion of  Cheltenham  or  Kenilworth,  or  Bookman,  or 


Figure  25 

Authors'  Roman  or  of  some  letter  with  the  characteris- 
tics of  Old  Style  Antique  will  lend  prestige  to  the  equip- 
ment of  the  booklet  specialist. 

Finally,  I  would  caution  against  the  selection  of  two 
or  more  faces  with  similarities.  Investments  of  this  kind 
are  extravagant  and  wasteful.  Why  buy  Kenilworth  when 
the  shop  is  supplied  with  Cheltenham,  or  Cheltenham 
Bold  and  Adstyle,  or  Plymouth  and  Hearst,  or  Priory 
and  Flemish.-'  In  such  selection  lies  the  grand  mistake  of 
the  average  buyer  of  materials  of  the  composing-room. 


62 


Practical  Printing 


The  similarity  effaces  lends  little  variety  to  the  products 
and  such  mistakes  in  selection  are  sure  to  cause  trouble 
in  distribution. 

The  most  practical  selection  of  brass  rules  is  of  the 
variety  in  which  the  various  faces  are  placed  on  a  uni- 
form body.  That  body  is  preferably  three  points,  as  a 
combination  of  such  rules  always  makes  the  best  multi- 
ple of  twelve  points.  Furthermore,  three-point  rule  pos- 
sesses a  more  substantial  footing  than  two-point,  and  it  is 
susceptible  to  more  uniform  printing  with  less  make- 


Figure  26 

ready.  It  is  a  difficult  matter  to  construct  a  rule  design 
quickly  when  a  great  deal  of  mitering  is  desired,  and  this 
cannot  be  avoided  with  rules  which  have  the  face  on  the 
center  of  the  body.  The  ideal  composing-room  must  not  be 
without  modern  labor-saving  rules,  all  cut  to  ems  and 
half  ems,  in  conveniently  partitioned  cases.  All  rules 
should  be  beveled  on  one  side  only. 


Composing- Room  Equipment  63 

In  selecting  metal  borders  it  will  be  profitable  to  avoid 
all  designs  that  require  close  joinings  of  solids  and  fine- 
line  or  screen  effects.  Borders  of  this  kind  round  off 
readily  and  become  unfit  for  use  in  a  very  short  time. 
The  best  and  most  serviceable  borders  are  of  the  non- 
joining  variety  in  which  the  designs  are  composed  of 
separate  segments.  No  other  thing  is  so  unpleasing  as 
the  effect  of  a  poorly-joined  solid  or  fine-line  metal 
border. 

Type-metal  leaders  are  most  unsatisfactory  for  blank- 
line  work,  and  dotted  brass  rule  is  undesirable  for  pecu- 
niary reasons.  It  necessitates  difficult  justification  with 
quads  and  leads,  which  adds  greatly  to  the  cost  of  pro- 
ducing this  class  of  work.  Brass  leaders  are  more  ex- 
pensive than  dotted  rules,  but  in  the  end  they  are  far 
more  profitable.  These  should  be  purchased  in  labor- 
saving  lengths,  on  six-,  eight-,  ten-  and  twelve-point 
lining  bodies. 

Lately  there  has  been  much  talk  about  dust-proof  type 
cabinets  and  similar  composing-room  furniture.  A  com- 
posing-room so  equipped,  with  varnished  and  highly- 
polished  dust-proof  cabinets  thruout,  is  a  handsome  thing 
to  look  upon ;  but,  is  the  idea  altogether  practical  ?  Is  it 
not  possible  that  a  complete  equipment  of  this  kind  is  a 
rather  expensive  luxury?  Has  the  "dust-proof"  advocate 
ever  shown  you  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  deteri- 
orating effect  of  dust  on  type?  It's  hardly  worth  an  argu- 
ment. The  four-dollar-and-a-half  news  stand  has  given 
adequate  service  in  America's  most  successful  composing- 
rooms  and  it  is  good  enough  for  general  book -room  use. 
A  half  dozen  cabinets  and  stands,  with  steel  runs  and 


64  Practical  Printing 

dustless,  of  approved  pattern,  should  be  sufficient  to  hold 
the  choice  display  faces,  and  to  serve  as  stands  for  the 
workmen  who  handle  the  finer  grades  of  work.  Figure  22 
is  a  most  serviceable  cabinet  of  this  character  that  meets 
every  requirement  of  convenience.  A  four-foot  working 
space  should  be  allowed  between  all  cabinets  and  stands, 
which  is  sufficient  to  admit  of  free  access  to  all  cases 
without  interfering  with ,  or  crowding  workmen  at  ad- 
joining cabinets. 

Now  let  us  supply  this  stand  with  the  necessary  tools 


Figure  27 

and  utensils,  all  of  a  practical  nature  and  each  designed 
to  aid  rapid  and  economical  composition. 

A  first  essential  is  a  good,  all-brass  job  galley,  pre- 
ferably with  a  one-piece  rim.  Galleys  of  this  kind  will 
retain  absolutely  perpendicular  side  walls  and  square 
corners.  (Figure  23.)  The  selection  of  a  composing  stick 
is  a  matter  of  individual  choice.  Numerous  patented  de- 
vices of  this  kind,  some  toothed  and  notched  for  six-  and 
twelve-point  adjustments,  have  been  brought  out  from 


Composing- Room  Equipment  65 

time  to  time.  They  are  giving  good  service,  but  the  old- 
time  pan  with  solid  knee  and  heavy  thumb-screw  attach- 
ment is  still  very  much  in  use.  One  design  of  this  variety 
is  shown  in  Figure  24. 

Another  valuable  tool  that  should  form  part  of  the 
equipment  of  every  job  stand  is  the  solid  brass  type-gage. 
A  substantial  gage  is  made  of  four-point  brass,  with  hook 
and  six-  and  twelve-point  graduations.  Twelve  inches  is 
a  convenient  length.  (Figure  25.) 

Compositors  frequently  are  in  the  habit  of  using  labor- 
saving  brass  rules  for  composing  type-matter.  This  habit 
is  destructive  to  materials  and  should  be  discouraged.  An 
excellent  preventative  is  a  handy  case  of  steel  composing 
rules  (Figure  26),  which  should  be  a  part  of  the  up-to- 
date  stand  equipment. 

The  invention  of  brass  spaces  and  copper  hair  spaces 
has  eliminated  the  scissors  and  cardboard  in  letter  and 


Figure  28 

final  line-spacing.  This  is  an  important  item  of  economy 
which  suggests  the  need  of  having  a  handy  small -sized 
case  of  these  spaces  close  at  hand  on  the  compositor's 
frame.  (Figure  27.) 

Other  little  items  of  economy  that  will  not  over -crowd 
the  job  printer's  handy  drawer,  are  a  small  set  of  gravers 


66  Practical  Printing 

(Figure  28),  a  diagram  of  numbered  card  sizes,  a  table 
showing  sizes  of  stock,  a  small  pair  of  pliers,  two  or  three 
kinds  of  fine  jeweler's  files,  a  facing  stone,  tweezers,  etc. 
An  indexed  cut  and  ornament  cabinet  is  another  mat- 
ter of  necessity,  and,  to  be  well  equipped  for  expeditious 


Figure  29 

production,  a  composing-room  should  not  be  without  a 
work -bench  and  its  tools  and  appurtenances.  The  latter 
should  consist  of  a  vise,  a  lead-cutter,  a  mitering  machine, 
a  type-high  gage  for  testing  cuts  on  the  block,  a  type- 
high  planer  (Figure  29),  and  a  saw  and  trimmer. 

The  latter  is  a  machine  of  exceptional  merit  and  econ- 
omy. It  avoids  the  delay  consequent  upon  sending  elec- 
tros to  a  foundry  for  small  mortises  and  for  trimming, 
and  it  may  be  applied  to  a  multitude  of  duties  that  make 
it  almost  indispensable. 

One  of  the  most  practical  items  of  composing-room 
economy  is  the  combination  stone  and  cabinet,  with  labor- 
saving  furniture  and  reglet  racks.  One  of  the  latest  im- 
provements in  this  line  is  shown  in  Figure  30.  The 
general  utility  of  its  various  appointments  are  too  well 
illustrated  to  require  further  description. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Facilitating  Composing- Room  Production 

IF  you  possess  the  materials  specified  in  the  preceding 
article  of  this  series  your  composing-room  equipment  is 
complete.  Also,  it  is  practical,  because  it  consists  of 
only  necessary  fonts,  furniture  and  appliances.  If  you 
would  secure  the  most  efficient  service  out  of  these  ma- 
terials it  is  necessary  that  the  arrangement  of  your 
equipment  should  be  planned  for  the  greater  convenience 
of  your  workmen.  Everything  should  be  arranged  to  avoid 
unnecessary  steps  and  otherwise  to  minimize  the  expendi- 
ture of  unproductive  energy.  An  ideal  arrangement  for 
a  medium-sized  shop  is  shown  in  figure  30a. 

Here  the  idea  is  to  derive  the  greatest  benefit  from 
available  light,  to  closely  surround  each  worker  in  each 
separate  branch  of  the  trade  with  his  most  necessary 
materials  and  to  place  all  furniture,  utensils  and  machin- 
ery in  progressive  arrangement.  Thus,  in  adhering  to  this 
plan,  the  lead,  slug,  quad  and  rule  cabinet  has  been 
placed  within  most  convenient  reach  of  all  compositors ; 
the  jobber's  frame  is  within  easy  reach  of  the  foreman's 
and  the  proofreader's  desk;  the  make-up's  frame  is  in 
touch  with  the  book  stone ;  and  the  Gordon  lock-up  is 
located  between  the  foreman's  desk  and  the  job  presses 
— the  one  being  his  receiving  station,  the  other  his  de- 
partment for  delivery. 

[68] 


Facilitating  Composing- Room  Production  69 

Many  practical  printers  favor  the  plan  of  segregating 
distinct  departments,  and,  in  all  houses  where  the  theory 
has  been  put  to  practice,  the  Gordon  presses  are  located 
in  the  cylinder-room,  usually  on  one  of  the  floors  below 
the  composing-room.  It  follows  that  all  forms,  both  large 
and  small,  must  reach  the  press-room  by  way  of  the  ele- 
vator. Such  a  plan  does  not  hasten  production,  as  the 


Cordon  GUM  Rich 
(••••••••••••I 


ooooo 


1  *• 

3       t 

a 


Figure  30  a 

method  is  roundabout  and  expensive.  I  favor  the  com- 
bination of  Gordon  press-room  and  composing-room  on 
one  floor.  The  necessity  of  immediate  and  direct  com- 
munication between  these  two  departments  is  too  frequent 
to  permit  of  the  many  small  delays  such  as  those  conse- 
quent upon  securing  make-ready  O.  K.  and  sending  forms 
to  press  and  returning  them  to  the  Gordon  stone  when  un- 
forseen  corrections  or  registering  for  colors  are  required. 


70 


Practical  Printing 


An  important  item  to  facilitate  production  in  the  com- 
posing-room is  an  index  to  cabinets.   (Figure  31.) 


INDEX  TO  CABINETS 

CONTENTS 

CONTENTS 

A                      CABINET 

M 

CABINET 

Antique  (Modern) 

10 

Mathematical  Signs   . 

1 

Algebraic  Signs  . 

1 

Medical  Signs      . 

1 

Art  Ornaments    . 

14 

Metal  Rule  Corners    . 

28 

Astronomical  Signs 

1 

Miscellaneous  Signs   . 

1 

Monotone 

10 

B 

Blair     

2 

N 

Blanchard     .... 

4 

Nautical  Signs     . 

1 

Bookman       .... 

3 

Borders         .... 

11 

O 

Old  Style  (Body)  6  pt. 

1 

c 

"       8pt. 

2 

Caslon  O.  S.  Italic 

5 

"     10  pt. 

3 

Caslon  O.  S.     "    . 

6 

"     12  pt. 

4 

Caslon  Bold  .... 

7 

"     18  pt. 

5 

Caslon  Text  .... 

8 

"     24  pt. 

6 

Condensed  Gothic 

15 

P 

E 

Pabst     .... 

18 

Plate  Gothic 

3 

Engravers'  Bold  . 

3 

Piece  Fractions   .        , 

G 

R 

Geometrical  Signs 

1 

Radical  Signs 

1 

Gothic           .... 

16 

Recipe  Signs 

1 

H 

S 

Heavy  Face  Dashes    . 

1 

Special  Letters    . 

1 

Heavy  Face  Paragraph  Marks 

1 

Special  Brackets 

16 

Heavy  Face  Parenthesis    . 

1 

Heavy  Face  Quotation  Marks 

1 

T 

Tudor  Black 

7 

I 

Tiffany 

7 

Italic  (0.  S.)         .    .    .'       . 

9        Typewriter  . 

10 

Figure  31 


Facilitating  Composing- Room  Production  71 

An  index  of  this  kind  should  contain  every  item  of 
type,  borders,  ornaments  and  other  foundry  materials  in 
the  composing-room.  This  list  should  be  printed  from 
large  type  on  a  full  sheet  of  cardboard  and  it  should  be 
suitably  framed  and  hung  in  the  center  of  the  room.  A 
greatly  reduced  facsimile  should  be  hung  on  the  wall 
aside  of  each  frame.  While  this  is  an  inexpensive  item  of 
convenience,  yet  it  is  of  inestimable  value  to  the  new 
men  or  to  the  extras  you  may  put  on  from  time  to  time. 
By  referring  to  the  list  a  new  man  will  be  able  to  locate 
all  materials  as  readily  as  the  compositor  who  has  served 
his  apprenticeship  in  the  shop. 

As  an  auxiliary  to  the  cabinet  index,  a  label  similar  to 
figure  32  should  be  used  on  all  cases  containing  astro- 
nomical, algebraic,  mathematic  and  other  miscellaneous 
signs.  These  labels  should  be  diagramed  to  represent  the 
box  partitionings,  with  parallel  ruling  to  show  the  heavier 
sectional  divisions  of  each  case. 

In  using  this  system,  should  the  new  man  require  six- 
point  piece  fractions,  he  will  refer  to  the  index  to  cab- 
inets," and  under  P"  he  will  find  piece  fractions," 


8 


D 

A 

cf 

<P 

9 

o 

13 

W 

ft 

oc 

0 

0 

d1 

C/ 

6 

HOP 

<§ 
ft 

C 

<E 

© 

2) 

© 

A 

8 

X 
V 

® 
# 

© 

b 

<4 

3 

1 

T 

i 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

0 

i 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

0 

0 

} 

2/ 

3/ 

*/ 

5/ 

6/ 

7/ 

8/ 

9/ 

°/ 

i 

4 

X3 

i 

X5 

'6 

'l 

X8 

X9 

xo 

Figure  32 


72  Practical  Printing 

cabinet  1 .  Arriving  at  that  cabinet  the  sizes  of  bodies 
will  be  indicated  by  the  large  figure  on  the  left  end  of 
each  label.  Every  character  and  its  exact  location  is 
shown  on  each  label,  as  in  figure  32  piece  fraction  5/  is  in 
the  left  section  of  the  case,  in  the  last  box  of  the  sixth  row. 
It  frequently  becomes  necessary  to  remove  certain  cases 
from  their  indexed  location.  Thus  a  number  of  cases  may 
be  scattered  over  widely  separated  portions  of  the  room. 
Questioning,  calling  out  or  wasting  time  in  search  may 
be  avoided  by  using  a  card  similar  to  Figure  33.  This 
should  be  filled  out  and  placed  in  opening  created  by 
removal  of  case  from  cabinet : 


THIS  CASE  TAKEN  BY 

Fred  Howard,  Frame  4 


Figure  33 

Considerable  time  will  be  saved  in  locating  and  remov- 
ing jobs  from  the  live  boards  for  lock-up  by  requiring 
each  compositor  to  mark  the  slide  number  on  all  proofs. 
An  order  to  this  effect  should  be  posted  on  every  frame. 
(Figure  34.) 


Compositors  must  put  number  of  slide 
on  proofs  when  jobs  are  put  on  boards. 


Figure  34 

In  the  larger  shops,  where  a  great  number  of  electro- 
types and  illustrations  are  used,  these  should  be  properly 
stored  in  cabinets  or  on  pigeon-holed  shelving.  All  should 


Facilitating  Composing- Room  Production  73 

be  indexed  and  recorded  in  books  made  for  this  special 
purpose.  Merely  to  enter  the  title  or  name  of  the  elec- 
tros is  hardly  sufficient.  Titles  frequently  conflict  and 
descriptions  do  not  always  lend  the  information  wanted. 
A  better  plan  is  to  use  books  of  a  large  size,  with  leaves 
of  manila  cardboard  for  pasting  in  proofs  of  all  electros 
and  cuts  entered  and  indexed.  Each  leaf  should  contain 
blanks  for  data  relating  to  the  work.  A  valuable  refer- 
ence of  this  kind  consists  of  the  following:  (Figure  35.) 


Customer's  Name  

Last  Job  No  

Title  of  Cut  or  Electro  

No.  of  each  

Original  belongs  to  

(us  or  customer) 

Original  returned,  Date  

Shelf  No  

..      Bin  No  

Remarks  :  

Figure  35 

This  should  be  printed  on  a  small  gummed  slip,  about 
four  by  two  inches,  for  pasting  in  the  upper  right-hand 
corner  of  each  manila  leaf.  When  a  number  of  proofs  are 
pasted  on  each  page  it  will  be  well  to  attach  such  a  slip 
over  each.  The  value  of  this  method  of  storing  and  in- 
dexing as  a  time-saver  is  obvious. 

All  type  matter  held  on  live  boards  for  future  use 
should  be  entered  and  indexed  in  similar  books.  Aside 
from  its  value  as  a  reference  in  determining  whether  a 
job  is  standing  this  method  will  aid  also  in  checking  up 
or  cancelling  work  for  distribution. 


74  Practical  Printing 

A  job  ticket  bin  similar  to  the  one  illustrated  (figure 
36),  is  of  inestimable  convenience.  This  series  of  boxes 
should  be  attached  to  the  rear  of  the  foreman's  desk, 
and  each  should  be  labeled  as  shown.  All  new  tickets 
sent  to  the  foreman  from  the  business  office  are  placed  in 
the  right-hand  bin  by  the  superintendent's  errand  boy. 
As  these  are  entered  in  the  foreman's  job  book  they  are 
placed  in  turn  in  the  second  bin.  From  this  box  the  work 


AT 
FOUNDRY 

AWAITING 
CUTS 

HELD  UP 

PROOF 
OUT 

ENTERED 

Put  all 
job  tickets 

in  this 

bin  fot  entry 

Figure  36 

goes  to  the  compositors'  hands.  Finally,  after  reaching 
the  proof-room  all  tickets  are  returned  to  the  third  or 
proof-out' '  bin.  Two  or  three  bins,  similar  in  construc- 
tion, are  attached  to  the  ends  of  both  the  Gordon  lockup 
and  the  cylinder  lockup's  imposing  stones.  These  are 
labeled  "Ready  for  Press." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Imposition  and  Lock-up 

MOST  writers  on  the  subject  of  'Stonework"  have 
given  the  greatest  amount  of  space  to  form  dia- 
grams and  analytical  notes  pertaining  thereto. 
Books  of  this  character  are  instructive  and  of  great  value 
as  works  of  reference.  Most  of  them  are  available  at  a 
very  moderate  price  and  this  fact  offers  sufficient  excuse 
for  omitting  form  diagrams  in  this  article.  At  present  the 
subject  is  to  be  treated  from  a  mechanical  standpoint  and 
along  lines  that  are  planned  to  facilitate  economical 
production. 

Improvements  in  methods  and  materials  associated 
with  this  branch  of  the  trade  are  keeping  pace  with  the 
advancements  in  all  other  departments.  Close  register 
three-color  process  plates  have  brought  about  metal  bases 
and  register  hooks  just  as  the  electrotype  created  the 
necessity  of  patent  blocks.  In  like  manner,  larger  forms 
and  rapid  printing  presses  are  demanding  greater  stabil- 
ity and  increased  accuracy  in  chases,  quoins,  marginal 
furniture  and  other  materials  required  in  building  a  per- 
fect book  form. 

Liberal  investment  in  adequate  quantities  of  marginal 
and  lock-up  furniture  in  both  metal  and  wood  is  suggested 
as  a  first  step  toward  securing  an  ideal  equipment.  It 
pays  to  discard  old  wood  furniture  that  has  become  swelled 

[75] 


76  Practical  Printing 

and  warped  thru  contact  with  water,  lye,  or  benzine. 
Material  of  this  character  is  one  of  the  causes  of  poor 
register,  work-ups  and  pull-outs.  Wood  furniture,  even 
when  new,  is  not  always  perfectly  square.  When  you 
receive  a  consignment  of  furniture  always  test  it  with  a 
pair  of  calipers,  across  its  width.  See  to  it  that  it  meas- 
ures the  same  at  the  top  and  bottom.  Locking  with  fur- 
niture with  sloping  side  walls  causes  type  to  arch  or  bulge 
when  pressure  is  applied  to  the  quoins  at  the  foot  of  a 
page. 

Labor-saving  metal  furniture  is  the  most  practical  for  fill- 
ing in  margins  when  the  form  consists  of  pages  of  hand -set 
foundry  type.  When  linotype  slugs,  monotype,  and  cuts 
with  wooden  bases  are  used  slight  inequalities  in  the 
make-up  of  pages  are  always  apparent.  To  overcome  any 
lack  of  stability  or  uniformity  caused  by  materials  of  this 
character  labor-saving  wood  furniture  is  suggested,  chiefly 
because  it  is  not  entirely  inflexible  and  because  it  lends 
itself  more  readily  to  these  slight  irregularities.  Iron  and 
steel  furniture  supplies  the  best  locking  material  for  forms 
that  are  to  be  sent  to  the  foundry  for  electrotyping  and 
stereotyping.  This  furniture  is  all  made  on  the  point  sys- 
tem, in  regular  labor-saving  sizes ;  is  micro  ground  and 
therefore  absolutely  accurate.  It  cannot  be  dented  or 
bruised  and  will  not  expand  with  heat  and  afterwards 
contract  out  of  shape.  It  also  possesses  the  advantage  of 
being  much  lighter  than  most  other  metal  furniture. 
Where  close  register  is  required,  as  in  color  work,  this 
furniture  is  especially  valuable  on  account  of  its  great  ac- 
curacy and  rigidity. 

For  regular  publications  and  for  locking  book  pages  of 


Imposition  and  Lock-up  77 

standard  sizes  it  is  most  practical  and  economical  to  use 
full-length  pieces  of  railroad  furniture  for  filling  in  mar- 
gins. This  material  is  made  two,  three,  four,  five,  six, 
eight  and  ten  ems  wide  and  any  length  cut  to  order. 
(Figure  37.) 

This  is  the  only  practical  lock-up  furniture  for  use  in 
forms  that  come  to  the  stone -room  regularly  and  which 
require  the  same  kind  of  unbroken  margins  at  each  suc- 
cessive printing.  The  requisite  furniture  for  each  publi- 
cation should  be  stored  away  in  separate  compartments 
and  should  never  be  used  for  other  work.  This  is  a  sys- 
tem known  as  phating  lock-up. 


Figure  37 

To  cover  the  subject  of  margins  in  a  brief  manner  a 
sixteen-page  book-form  will  be  used  as  an  example — 
sheet-wise  make-up,  saddle-back  and  wire-stitched,  stock 
twenty-five  by  thirty-eight,  machine  finished,  the  fin- 
ished book  to  be  six  by  nine  inches.  The  head  margins 
establish  a  basis  upon  which  the  distance  between  pages 
is  figured — the  long  way  of  the  sheet.  In  the  form  cited 
the  type  pages  are  twenty-two  by  forty  ems,  excluding 
the  folios.  While  the  position  of  the  printed  matter  on 
the  page  of  a  book  is  often  a  question  of  taste,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  square  surface  of  white  space  is  a  fixed 
quantity.  For  this  reason  the  amount  of  furniture  to  be 


78  Practical  Printing 

placed  at  the  head  is  not  governed  by  the  amount  of 
paper  to  spare  over  and  above  the  trimmed  size  of  the 
book,  but  rather  upon  how  much  of  a  "bite"  is  neces- 
sary in  trimming  the  top  of  the  finished  work.  From  one- 
eighth  to  one -quarter  of  an  inch  is  ample  and  this  basis 
of  trim  is  applicable  to  any  work.  Having  fixed  upon  a 
regulation  head  trim  for  all  book  work,  the  foot  trim  will 
regulate  itself.  By  using  this  fixed  head  trim  for  all  book 
work  it  will  be  impossible  for  any  cutter  or  book  trimmer 
to  make  a  mistake  or  inadvertently  to  spoil  the  margins 
of  a  catalog  by  trimming  too  deep.  Presuming  that  the 
finished  book  is  to  show  equal  margins  top  and  bottom, 
or  slightly  less  at  the  top,  then  the  distance  from  the 
folio  of  an  outside  page  to  the  head  of  the  next  page  in 
the  same  row  should  be  equal  to  the  trimmed  length  of 
the  book,  plus  the  "bite,"  or  nine  and  one-fourth  inches. 
From  the  folio  of  an  outside  page  to  the  one  on  the  op- 
posite side  and  next  to  the  cross-bar  the  distance  should 
be  just  one-half  of  the  length  of  the  sheet,  or  nineteen 
inches.  Some  stonemen  figure  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch 
less  in  this  latter  measurement  to  overcome  variations  in 
the  stock.  Across  the  breadth  of  the  sheet  the  distance 
from  the  outer  edge  of  an  outside  page  to  the  inside  edge 
of  an  adjoining  page  should  be  exactly  six  inches.  From 
an  outside  page  to  the  page  against  the  center  bar  in  the 
opposite  half  of  the  form  the  distance  should  be  equal  to 
one-half  of  the  breadth  of  the  sheet,  or  twelve  and  one- 
half  inches.  To  give  the  printed  matter  proper  balance 
on  the  page  it  should  appear  about  eighteen  points  above 
the  center,  whenever  the  margins  are  ample  and  sufficient 
to  permit  of  this.  By  including  the  folios  in  making  head 


Imposition  and  Lock-up  79 

to  foot  measurements  the  printed  matter  will  assume  this 
position  without  making  further  deductions  from  head 
margins.  This  is  applicable  only  in  cases  where  the 
folios  are  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  page.  When  the 
folio  becomes  part  of  a  running  head,  measurement 
should  be  made  from  t}rpe  to  type,  exclusive  of  folio, 
with  proper  deduction  from  the  head  furniture.  In  the 
gathered  or  side-stitched  book  it  is  necessary  to  deduct 
from  twelve  to  twenty-four  points  from  the  side  trim,  ac- 
cording to  the  size  and  number  of  signatures,  adding  this 
to  the  binding  gutters.  This  is  the  usual  allowance  for 
side-stitched  books,  to  give  correct  inside  margins. 

The  method  of  spanning  an  entire  section  of  pages 
with  an  unbroken  piece  of  furniture  was  a  common  prac- 
tice with  the  old  school  of  stonemen,  and  it  is  still  being 
followed  by  those  who  are  unfamiliar  with  the  causes  of 
work-ups  and  pull-outs.  The  method  does  not  lend  sta- 
bility to  a  form  and  it  is  inadequate  for  many  reasons.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  there  is  more  give"  to  a  page  of 
leaded  type  matter  or  linotype  slugs  than  to  a  page  made 
up  of  solid  type  and  cuts.  Therefore,  if  a  section  consist- 
ing of  four  rows  of  miscellaneous  pages  is  spanned  with 
an  unbroken  piece  of  furniture,  a  selection  of  pressure 
cannot  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  pages  of  varying  char- 
acter. The  shorter  or  leaded  pages  will  tend  to  loosen  by 
the  jar  of  the  press,  and  if  work-ups  occur,  it  may  be  at- 
tributed to  this  method  of  placing  furniture.  An  ideal 
arrangement  of  both  marginal  and  lock-up  furniture  is 
found  in  the  method  known  as  the  individual  lock-up,  in 
which  no  more  than  two  pages  are  spanned  with  a  single 
piece  of  wood  or  metal  locking  material. 


80  Practical  Printing 

An  inexperienced  stoiieman  may  lock  a  perfect  form 
six  to  twelve  points  out  of  register  and  he  may  also 
severely  impair  the  stability  of  pages  that  have  been  care- 
fully justified  and  made  up  to  accurate  and  uniform 
length.  This  may  be  done  by  locking  too  tightly  on  one 
side  of  a  weak  cross-bar  while  the  quoins  are  loose  in  the 
opposite  section  of  pages.  To  lock  a  form  properly,  pres- 
sure should  first  be  applied  to  all  of  the  quoins  at  the  foot 
of  the  pages.  This  should  be  done  as  an  experimental 
test  of  the  page  and  folio  alignment,  and  to  force  the 
matter  snugly  against  the  heavy  center  bar,  but  it  should 
by  no  means  be  a  part  of  the  final  lock-up.  If  this  ex- 
periment proves  all  of  the  pages  to  be  of  equal  length, 
then  release  the  quoins  before  you  begin  the  final  lock-up. 
Much  importance  should  be  attached  to  this  part  of  stone- 
work, and  a  neglect  or  observance  of  this  rule  is  a  good 
gage  of  a  stoneman's  competency.  Tighten  all  of  the 
quoins  first  by  applying  uniform  pressure  with  the  fingers. 
Then  use  the  key,  locking  gently,  first  on  the  quoins 
next  to  the  bars,  and  from  these  work  gradually  to  the 
corners  of  the  form.  Great  care  must  be  observed  to  pre- 
serve uniform  pressure  on  all  sides  at  all  times.  The  pres- 
sure should  not  be  applied  too  suddenly  or  too  strongly, 
but  rather  by  a  series  of  lockings  consisting  of  five  or  six 
tours  of  the  form. 

The  "midget"  quoin  (Figure  38)  is  an  adequate  and 
most  satisfactory  device  for  use  in  crowded  forms  with 
limited  space  for  locking.  It  is  locked  by  a  tap  of  the 
mallet,  and  occupies  no  more  space  in  length  when  locked 
than  when  unlocked.  It  may  be  used  in  a  space  only 
eighteen  points  wide. 


Imposition  and  Lock-up  81 

In  locking  book  headings  with  foot  notes  and  other 
forms  which  require  skeletonizing,  it  frequently  becomes 
necessary  to  tie  up  a  considerable  amount  of  much-needed 
labor-saving  metal  furniture.  This  worry  and  much  time 


Figure  38 

may  be  saved  by  installing  a  cabinet  of  patent  steel 
skeletonizing  furniture.  (Figure  39.)  It  consists  of  pieces 
of  steel  in  accurate  lengths  with  notched  ends,  which 
can  be  quickly  thrown  around  blank  spaces.  For  color 
and  blank  work  it  is  the  ideal  material.  It  is  made  of 
twenty-four-,  thirty -six-  and  fifty -four-point  steel,  five- 
eighth  inch  high,  and  with  either  twelve-  or  eighteen- 
point  notches. . 


Figure  39 

In  locking  color  forms,  consisting  of  electrotypes  and 
halftones  mounted  on  wooden  bases  it  is  often  found  that 
the  blocks  are  not  uniform  in  size  or  that  the  plates  are 
not  mounted  in  exact  register.  The  most  satisfactory  and 
successful  manner  of  imposing  forms  of  this  kind  is  to  use 
the  system  of  quotation  furniture  lock-up  in  conjunction 


82  Practical  Printing 

with  short  pieces  of  one-  and  two-point  leads.  Long 
pieces  of  solid  furniture  covering  the  entire  length  of 
plates  of  this  kind  should  never  be  used  under  any  cir- 
cumstances. The  method  is  to  place  a  single  quotation 
from  four  to  six  ems  in  width  in  the  center  of  the  head 
margin  of  the  plate.  A  half  dozen  six-  or  eight-em  leads 
in  conjunction  with  this  will  be  sufficient  for  registering 
purposes.  Two  quotations  of  similar  size  should  be  used 
in  the  margins  at  the  side  of  the  cut,  one  at  the  top  and 
the  other  at  the  bottom,  also  with  registering  leads. 
Broken  and  short-length  leads  that  have  served  their  day 
in  the  labor-saving  case  can  be  used  to  advantage  for  this 
purpose.  This  method  of  using  a  single  short  piece  of 
metal  furniture  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  a  cut  permits 
of  swinging  the  plate  in  any  direction  by  transposing  a 
sufficient  number  of  leads  in  the  side  margins,  either  top 
or  bottom.  In  other  words,  the  plate  is  thus  pivoted  on 
the  single  pieces  of  narrow  measure  metal  at  the  foot  and 
head  of  the  cut.  A  patented  small  size  register  screw  is 
also  available  for  this  purpose.  These  screws  are  placed 
on  all  four  sides  of  the  blocks  and  any  page  may  then  be 
moved  in  any  direction  without  disturbing  the  other 
pages. 

Press  gripper  and  side  guide  edges  as  related  to  mar- 
ginal folding  machine  drop-roll  and  guide  edges  is  a  study 
worthy  of  attention  in  connection  with  imposition  and 
lock-up.  The  subject  is  too  long  to  permit  of  being  cov- 
ered satisfactorily  in  this  book. 

Narrow  book  heading  chases  are  almost  a  necessity  in 
all  shops  accustomed  to  handling  considerable  blank  work. 
They  reduce  time  in  the  lock-up  and  are  frequently  used 


Imposition  and  Lock-up  83 

to  advantage  for  filling  out  open  spaces  on  the  inside  of 
much  larger  forms.  They  are  available  in  all  sizes  with 
or  without  bars.  (Figure  40.) 

With  the  introduction  of  halftone  printing  plates  and 
enameled,  coated  and  calendered  papers  came  the  neces- 
sity of  hard  packing  and  a  firm  make-ready  for  printing 
presses.  The  very  delicate  screens  of  halftone  plates  re- 
quired a  much  harder  and  more  rigid  surface  of  contact 
to  bring  out  the  details  in  printing  than  could  be  accom- 
plished with  the  old-time  packings  and  make-ready  used 


Figure  40 

in  printing  wood,  steel  and  copper  engravings.  Later  on 
it  developed  also  that  the  ordinary  wooden  blocks  used 
for  mounting  illustrations  lacked  in  rigidity  and  firmness 
as  mounts  for  the  new  fine-screen  process  plates.  They 
served  fairly  well  for  short  runs,  but  it  was  discovered 
that  the  plate  became  embedded  in  the  block  when  runs 
exceeded  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand.  In  consequence  of 
this,  metal  sectional  blocks  and  register  hooks  entered 
the  field.  Sectional  blocks  of  whatever  make  are  substan- 
tially the  same,  but  the  accompanying  hooks  may  be  had 
in  a  dozen  different  styles  and  patterns.  These  blocks 
are  made  from  extra  hard  metal,  cored  on  their  under 
side  to  lighten  them  and  they  must  be  sufficiently  heavy 
for  the  most  exacting  impression  of  halftone  or  tint  plate. 


84 


Practical  Printing 


They  are  designed  to  minimize  the  make-ready  and  to 
retain  uniformity  of  impression  for  an  indefinite  number 
of  impressions.  There  is  110  doubt  that  the  metal  base 
soon  pays  for  itself  by  lengthening  the  life  of  halftone 
engravings.  The  sectional  block  of  the  ordinary  type  now 
in  use  is  shown  in  Figure  41,  and  a  variety  of  hooks, 
Figures  42,  43,  44,  45,  and  46. 


Figure  42 


Figure  44 


Figure  45  Figure  46 

Blocks  and  hooks  are  usually  six  by  six  picas  and  eight 
by  eight  picas  in  size  and  interchangeable.  The  best  of 
these  are  made  from  solid  steel  and  brass  and  for  three- 


Imposition  and  Lock-up  85 

color  plates,  which  may  require  registering  on  the  press, 
the  swivel  hook  (Figure  43)  is  the  most  suitable.  The 
center  portion  or  hook  is  so  mounted  that  it  will  turn  in 
any  direction,  even  after  being  locked  up  in  a  form.  The 
hook  being  swiveled  adjusts  itself  automatically  to  the 
position  desired.  Most  of  these  hooks  are  operated  with 
steel  keys  (Figure  4?)  and  some  of  them  may  be  closed 
or  released  with  the  ordinary  handle  ratchet  used  with 
patent  electrotype  blocks.  In  printing  book  forms  from 
electrotyped  plates  one  of  the  chief  items  of  economy  to 
the  stoneman  is  the  patent  block.  1  y  its  use  not  only 
the  expense  of  mounting  is  eliminated,  but  at  the  same 


Figure  47 

time  imposition  and  lock-up  are  reduced  to  an  absolute 
minimum.  This  is  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  make-up 
and  lock-up  of  a  single  signature  will  suffice  for  an  entire 
volume  containing  any  number  of  signatures.  Usually 
after  the  initial  form  goes  to  press  all  succeeding  changes 
are  made  by  the  pressman.  In  the  very  large  book  shops 
it  is  customary  to  hold  forms  of  standard  make-up  in  the 
live  rack,  thus  in  some  cases  practically  eliminating 
stone  work.  A  very  satisfactory  patent  block  and  ratchet 
is  shown.  (Figures  48  and  49.) 

Very  frequently  both  press-room  and  stone-room  are 
too  crowded  to  permit  of  large,  specially  constructed 
form  racks.  Solid  metal  sectional  racks  may  be  advan- 
tageously substituted  in  such  cases.  In  the  press-room 
the  sectional  chase  and  form  rack  can  be  put  in  position 


86 


Practical  Printing 


convenient  to  presses,  and  forms  when  received  from  the 
composing-room  can  be  temporarily  placed  in  this  rack 
until  required  for  printing.  These  racks  are  made  in  two 
sections  (Figures  50  and  51.)  One  each  of  these  sections 


Figure  48 


Figure  49 


Figure  50 


Figure  51 


Figure  52 

is  screwed  to  the  floor  and  one  section  (Figure  5l)to  the 
wall,  as  shown  in  Figure  52.  A  set  thus  arranged  ac- 
commodates six  chases  or  forms.  If  provision  for  more 
chases  is  required  other  sets  can  be  added. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Platen  Presswork 

E1  us  look  to  the  rollers  as  the  principal  medium 
thru   which  we   may  be   able    to  produce  good, 
clean,    sharply-printed    impressions   on   a    platen 
press.   Such  results  are  possible  at  all  times  by  the  use  of 
good  rollers,  perfectly  adapted  to  prevailing  climatic  con- 
ditions, and  by  maintaining  these  qualities  thru  proper 
care  and  usage. 

A  little  knowledge  of  the  ingredients  that  enter  into 
the  manufacture  of  printers'  rollers  will  serve  well  to 
suggest  means  by  which  they  may  be  kept  in  prime  work- 
ing condition  for  an  indefinite  period.  True  glue  is  the 
body  and  the  most  essential  element  of  all  roller  compo- 
sition. Used  alone,  without  sugar,  molasses  or  glycerine, 
it  would  still  be  possible  to  produce  good  roller  composi- 
tion by  cooking  and  bringing  true  glue  to  the  proper  con- 
sistency ;  but  rollers,  such  as  these,  would  be  short-lived 
and  they  would  soon  lose  their  suction  and  become  as 
useless  for  printing  purposes  as  a  common  garden  hose. 
The  addition  of  molasses  and  glycerin  lend  durability, 
suction,  the  power  of  distribution,  and  protection  against 
the  deteriorating  effects  of  light  and  the  atmosphere. 

Glycerin  supplies  the  moisture-absorbing  property. 
The  presence  of  sugar,  molasses,  glucose,  or  saccharine 
in  any  form  suggests  the  injury  that  may  be  done  to  rol- 

[87] 


88  Practical  Printing 

lers  by  excessive  washing  with  water  and  lye.  The  ordi- 
nary lye  wash  not  only  tends  to  dissolve  and  remove  the 
saccharine,  but,  at  the  same  time,  produces  a  hard  roller 
surface  with  little  or  no  affinity  for  ink.  Experience  has 
demonstrated  that  the  best  wash  for  printers'  rollers  is  to 
be  found  among  the  petroleum  products.  Among  these 
are  gasoline,  benzine,  naptha,  kerosene,  lubricating  oil, 
tarcolin  and  vaseline.  Lye  should  be  used  only  in  extreme 
cases,  when  quick  drying  inks  become  thoroly  hardened 
on  the  surface.  Even  then  dead  oil  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred. 

It  is  well  known  that  continuous  exposure  to  the  atmos- 
phere is  most  detrimental  to  printers'  rollers.  That  is  why 
a  fresh  consignment  from  the  factory  usually  arrives  well 
covered  with  lard  or  vaseline.  If  this  is  not  the  case  the 
lard  should  be  applied  as  soon  as  the  new  rollers  arrive, 
and  they  should  be  allowed  to  season  in  this  condition, 
standing  upright  for  at  least  eight  or  ten  days. 

Rollers  should  never  be  allowed  to  remain  dry  and 
clean  over  night  after  the  evening  washup.  The  preserva- 
tive plan  is  to  wash  thoroly  with  benzine  and  then  cover 
or  roll  the  surface  with  news  or  any  other  slow-drying 
ink.  Careless  washing  will  not  preserve  roller  efficiency. 
Remove  every  streak  and  speck.  A  pin's  head  of  hardened 
ink  on  the  roller,  if  left  until  the  morrow,  will  increase 
to  the  size  of  a  dime  and  it  may  necessitate  scraping  or 
an  application  of  lye  to  remove  it  in  subsequent  washing. 
The  habit  of  permitting  rollers  to  remain  in  the  press 
after  washing  at  night  is  discouraged.  Sometime  a  care- 
less feeder  may  run  them  on  the  plate  with  flattened 
roller  surfaces  as  a  result,  and  then,  again,  the  over-night 


Platen  Presswork  89 

strain  on  the  carriage  springs  does  not  tend  to  improve 
the  running  condition  of  the  press. 

It  is  customary  to  wash  copying  ink  rollers  with  cold 
water,  but  this  method  is  not  recommended  where  these 
same  rollers  are  subsequently  to  be  used  for  colored  and 
black  job  inks.  A  better  plan  is  to  remove  the  major  por- 
tion of  the  ink  by  running  the  rollers  over  cardboard  or 
paper  on  the  plate  and  then  rolling  with  common  news 
ink.  This  will  permit  of  a  final  washing  with  benzine  or 
gasoline.  This  is  the  thoro  method. 

It  is  a  matter  of  economy  to  have  roller  molds  for  all 
of  the  platen  presses.  Old  cylinder  press  rollers  may  thus 
be  remelted  and,  by  mixing  a  new  composition,  any  press- 
man can  cast  very  satisfactory  rollers  for  copying  ink  jobs, 
brass-rule,  scoring  and  perforating  rule  forms,  all  of  which 
give  most  severe  service  to  any  rollers.  Roller-composition 
may  be  purchased  in  cakes  from  the  manufacturer. 

In  printing  brass-rule  forms  it  is  always  well  to  en- 
deavor to  lock  so  that  the  rollers  will  traverse  the  rules 
horizontally.  If  the  form  will  not  permit  of  this  the  usual 
plan  is  to  lock  six-point  guard  rules  or  bearers  in  the  mar- 
gins of  the  form  to  prevent  the  rollers  from  cutting  into 
the  sharp  ends  of  the  rules. 

Forms  containing  perforating  rules,  if  printed  in  the 
ordinary  way,  will  cut  up  a  set  of  rollers  in  a  single  run 
of  one  thousand  impressions.  A  new  wrinkle,  which  is  at 
once  an  improver  of  perforated  printing  and  an  immense 
roller-saver,  is  a  less-than-type-high  steel  perforating 
rule.  If  you  are  unable  to  secure  this  rule  from  your  sup- 
ply house  it  is  advisable  to  take  the  ordinary  foundry  rule 
to  a  machine  shop  and  have  it  planed  down  to  about  one 


90  Practical  Printing 

point  less  than  type  high.  When  locked  in  the  form  this 
rule  will  not  come  in  contact  with  the  rollers.  The  plan  is 
to  build  up  the  impression  from  the  tympan  with  narrow 
strips  of  tagboard  or  rubber,  thus  forcing  the  paper  against 
the  rule  from  the  plate  instead  of  pushing  it  into  the 
paper,  as  in  the  case  where  more-than-type-high  rule  is 
used.  It  is  obvious  that  the  appearance  of  the  job  will  be 
improved  as  well,  by  reason  of  an  uninked  perforation. 

Roller  bearers  are  more  destructive  to  rollers  than  use- 
ful in  preventing  slur  or  uneven  traverse  of  the  carriage. 
If  the  roller  trucks  are  true  to  roller  circumference  there 
will  be  little  need  of  bearers  and  slurring  or  blurring  of 
type  or  rules  may  be  prevented  by  applying  powdered 
rosin  to  the  tracks,  by  the  use  of  hard  packing,  a  perfectly 
smooth  and  taut  tympan,  and  by  maintaining  correct  ad- 
justment of  the  working  parts  of  the  press.  Frequently  it 
is  impossible  to  secure  a  sharp  impression  because  of  care- 
less washup  and  the  consequent  oil  and  grease  on  the 
plate. 

On  a  three-roller  press  the  lower  roller  usually  is  sub- 
jected to  the  hardest  usage.  For  this  reason  the  rollers 
should  be  interchanged  from  time  to  time  to  give  them 
more  uniform  wear. 

Oil  every  bearing  each  day  before  you  begin  a  run  and 
clean  the  ink  fountain  thoroly  at  least  once  a  week. 

PLATEN  PRESS  MAKE-READY 

In  this  limited  space  it  is  unnecessary  to  supply  a  de- 
tailed description  of  the  ordinary  make-ready  for  plain 
forms  of  type  and  rules.  Halftone  printing  on  platen 
presses  will  be  of  greater  interest  and  of  more  practical 


Platen  Presswork  91 

value  to  the  pressman  as  a  lesson  in  make-ready.  Eugene 
St.  John,  a  well-known  pressman,  whose  extensive  knowl- 
edge has  been  gained  thru  unlimited  experience,  has  con- 
sented to  supply  a  few  paragraphs  in  reference  to  this 
branch  of  make-ready.  He  advises  as  follows : 

The  halftone  may  be  printed  perfectly  on  the  platen  press  under 
favorable  conditions.  The  printing  surface  of  halftones  in  a  form 
should  not  be  over  one-half  the  inside  capacity  of  the  chase,  else 
the  inking  facilities  and  impressional  power  of  the  platen  machine 
may  be  overtaxed.  Good  stock — preferably  enameled,  dull-fin- 
ished, coated  or  supercalendered — and  an  ink  finely  ground  and 
free-flowing,  to  avoid  "picking"  and  "pulling,"  are  necessary. 
The  press  should  be  run  not  faster  than  one  thousand  impressions 
per  hour. 

The  form  should  be  in  the  center  the  long  way  of  the  chase  and 
a  little  below  the  center  the  other  way,  and  securely  locked.  Place 
the  form  in  the  press  and  clamp  securely.  Remove  the  gages  and 
dress  the  platen  with  new  tympan  of  two  sheets  of  smooth  book 
paper.  Have  the  impression  square  and  rigid  enough  for  one  sheet 
of  three-ply  packing  to  suffice.  Take  an  impression  on  sufficient 
sheets  of  book  paper  to  render  the  impression  on  the  edges  of  the 
cut  discernible  as  a  guide  for  underlaying.  Level  the  cut  on  the 
corners  with  underlays  and  then  underlay  the  base  from  center  to 
edge  with  three  overlapping  ovals  of  french  folio  to  take  up  the 
spring  and  hold  center  of  cut  to  the  rollers.  The  underlay  should 
bring  all  of  the  cut  except  a  vignette  edge  to  type  hight,  but  no 
higher. 

On  the  heavier  makes  of  platen  machines  it  is  not  necessary  to 
use  paper  thicker  than  french  folio,  unless  the  cut  is  very  heavy, 
but  on  the  lighter  Gordon  machines  book  paper  is  frequently 
necessary  for  solids  and  sub-solids.  The  first  step  is  to  build  up 
the  impression  from  the  center  with  the  overlapping  ovals  of  tis- 
sue or  folio  according  to  the  size  and  extent  of  solids  in  cut.  Then 
cover  the  entire  subject  of  the  cut  with  french  folio  and  each  tone 
with  an  additional  thickness,  beginning  with  one  thickness  for 
the  tone  next  to  high  light  and  adding  one  thickness  for  each 


92  Practical  Printing 

heavier  tone.  Where  three  thicknesses  of  folio  are  needed  on  a 
given  portion  of  a  cut  it  is  more  expeditious  to  cover  this  portion 
with  a  single  thickness  of  book.  The  overlays  should  be  cut  and 
applied  so  as  to  fit  exactly  where  needed,  else  the  result  will  be 
less  satisfactory  than  mere  flat  printing.  Paste  these  overlays 
securely  on  the  impression  on  top  of  one  of  the  two  tympan  sheets 
with  a  thin  paste  free  from  lumps.  Now  cover  the  make-ready 
with  two  sheets  of  book.  Two  are  better  than  one,  softening 
abruptness  between  tones.  Now  take  an  impression  on  the  top 
sheet  and  set  the  guides,  which  should  be  secure,  so  that  tipping 
will  not  be  necessary.  Move  the  grippers  up  so  that  they  just 
clear  the  form  and  pull  a  last  impression  for  careful  inspection 
before  running.  The  impression  may  be  a  little  heavy.  If  so,  tear 
an  under  sheet  from  the  tympan  or  substitute  thinner  packing  for 
the  cardboard.  A  break  in  the  high  lights  may  be  overcome  with 
a  patch  of  tissue.  The  edges  of  vignetted  cuts,  after  the  rest  of 
the  make-ready  is  finished,  may  be  scraped  and  cut  away.  Except 
where  the  cut  has  been  hammered  down  or  "dished"  in  previous 
printings  the  above  treatment  will  be  found  sufficient.  A  '  'dished' ' 
cut  should  be  remounted. 

THE  INK  CLOSET 

High-grade  and  costly  colored  and  black  inks  should 
never  be  allowed  to  remain  uncovered  for  a  great  length 
of  time.  The  surface  of  the  new  can  should  be  covered 
with  a  closely-fitting  sheet  of  oiled  paper,  and  further  to 
prevent  hardening  or  "skinning  over"  a  one-fourth  inch 
layer  of  vaseline  or  lard  on  the  top  of  the  oiled  sheet,  will 
answer  the  purpose  very  satisfactorily.  Lift  the  corner  of 
the  oiled  paper  covering  and  remove  the  ink  from  the  can 
very  carefully  with  an  ink  knife  as  required.  The  common 
habit  of  jabbing  an  old  piece  of  dirty  reglet  into  the  can 
and  allowing  it  to  remain  there  is  wasteful  and  tends  to 
degrade  delicate  tints  and  colors.  Observe  system  in  the 
arrangement  and  shelving  of  ink  cans  and  do  not  permit 


Figure  53 


94  Practical  Printing 

the  closet  to  be  strewn  with  old  waste,  empty  cans  and 
loose  bronze  powder.  Bronze  powders  should  be  kept  in 
separate  compartments,  preferably  airtight  drawers.  An 
ink  closet,  presenting  an  ideal  and  orderly  arrangement  of 
materials,  is  shown  in  figure  53. 

BRONZING 

Gold  and  aluminum  inks  have  been  brought  up  to  a  very 
high  standard  within  recent  years,  and  in  consequence  the 
distasteful  process  of  bronzing  is  on  the  wane.  Bronzing 
is  necessary,  however,  when  very  brilliant  effects  are  de- 
sired. To  imitate  gold  leaf  stamping  with  ordinary  bronze 
powder  it  is  usually  customary  to  give  the  dusted  sheet  a 
second  impression  by  running  the  form  without  rollers  or 
ink.  The  process  tends  to  flatten  and  impress  all  loose 
particles  of  powder,  thus  producing  a  smooth  and  brilliant 
effect  in  the  finished  work.  Besides  bronze  powders  many 
other  granulated  and  powdered  materials  may  be  used 
with  novel  effect,,  Wall  paper  flock,  applied  similarly  to 
bronze  powder,  with  cotton,  gives  the  appearance  of  a 
cloth  or  felt  finish.  For  these  foreign  substances  a  size  of 
superior  adhesive  qualities  is  required.  Ordinary  bronze 
size  is  inadequate.  A  special  glue  size,  made  for  the  pur- 
pose, may  be  purchased  from  any  ink  house.  Colored  and 
flint  sands,  and  emery  powders  may  be  applied  in  the  same 
way. 

The  use  of  sand  in  this  manner  is  resorted  to  in  the 
manufacture  of  advertising  novelties  containing  sanded 
match  scratchers.  Magnesia,  tinsel,  mica,  and  metallic 
filings  are  used  for  decorative  purposes  in  the  manufacture 
of  post  cards  and  Christmas  novelties. 


Figure  54 


96  Practical  Printing 

IMITATION  TYPEWRITER  LETTERS 

The  typewritten  effect  may  be  produced  by  printing 
thru  ribbon  by  either  of  the  following  methods  :  By  span- 
ning the  grippers  with  thin  china  silk  and  printing  thru 
the  fabric  or  by  locking  the  silk  between  the  furniture 
and  pulling  it  over  the  form. 

A  patented  device,  with  an  unwinding  and  re- winding 
continuous  ribbon  attachment,  is  now  on  the  market. 
The  ribbon  is  of  the  same  prepared  material  as  used  on 
the  standard  makes  of  typewriters  and  the  form  can  be 
printed  thru  the  fabric  by  running  the  press  without  rol- 
lers or  ink.  Another  method  is  to  print  from  zinc-etched 
plates,  and  rubber  stamps  mounted  on  electrotype  blocks 
are  also  used,  the  latter  especially  on  combination  print- 
ing and  addressing  machines. 

PEBBLING  AND  DIE-CUTTING 

Pebbling  may  be  imitated  on  a  Gordon  press  by  the 
use  of  sandpaper,  mounted  on  a  type-high  block.  The 
press  must  be  run  without  ink  or  rollers. 

Ordinary  clasps,  openings  in  covers,  slits  and  odd  shapes 
may  be  die-cut  on  any  platen  press  by  the  use  of  ordinary 
steel  cutting  rules.  These  are  locked  in  the  form  and  filled 
in  with  furniture  the  same  as  brass  rule  work.  Ordinary 
bottle  corks  are  glued  in  the  open  spaces  to  release  the 
sheets  from  the  rules  during  the  process  of  cutting.  The 
back  of  an  old  brass  galley  or  a  piece  of  zinc  is  placed  behind 
the  tympan  sheet  to  act  as  a  cutting  surface  for  the  rules. 

A  modern  platen  press,  with  individual  motor  drive, 
counter,  vibrating  fountain  rollers,  roller  carriage  throw- 
off,  and  other  improvements,  is  shown  in  figure  54. 


CHAPTER  X 

Cylinder  Press-work 

A3.  matter  of  immediate  importance  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  cover  those  portions  of  cylinder  press 
mechanism  and  adjustment*  which  directly  con- 
cern impression,  make-ready  and  sheet  delivery.  Of  these 
the  adjustment  of  cylinder  to  bearers  is  of  first  interest. 
When  the  bearers  are  low  or  when  the  cylinder  is  over- 
packed,  certain  impressional  defects  will  soon  make  their 
appearance  in  the  printed  sheet.  The  experienced  press- 
man is  not  slow  to  recognize  these  blemishes  and  by  their 
character  he  soon  discovers  the  cause.  When  vignetted 
halftone  illustrations  begin  to  show  blackened  edges,  and 
when  there  is  an  apparent  slur  or  "drag"  of  rules  and 
type  lines  at  the  "tail"  of  the  sheet,  or  where  it  leaves 
the  cylinder,  there  is  evidence  that  the  impression  is 
riding  the  form."  In  most  cases  where  this  trouble  can- 
not be  attributed  to  the  make-ready,  the  fault  lies  in  the 
improper  adjustment  of  the  cylinder  to  the  bearers. 

The  hight  of  the  impression  should  be  tested  at  least 
once  a  month  by  the  use  of  the  pressman's  type-high 
gage.  There  is  a  long-handled  tool  of  this  kind  with 

*EDITOR'S  NOTE.— The  matter  relating  to  cylinder  press  adjustment  was 
prepared  by  the  author  from  notes  collected  during  an  association  with 
John  E.  Cashion,  a  pressman  of  recognized  authority.  Mr.  Sherman  and  Mr. 
Ca.shion  were  at  that  time  co-operating  as  instructors  in  typography  and 
presswork,  respectively,  in  a  printing-trades  school. 

[971 


98  Practical  Printing 

which  the  work  may  be  done  easily  and  quickly.  The 
method  is  to  move  the  press  to  the  back  center  and  re- 
move the  screws  from  the  bearers,  which  are  accessible 
from  the  rear  of  the  press.  Then  run  the  press  to  the 
front  center  to  remove  the  remaining  screws.  The  press 
should  then  be  reversed  to  the  center  to  take  off  the 
bearers.  All  hardened  oil,  ink  and  other  foreign  matter 
should  be  thoroly  removed  from  where  the  bearers  lie, 
for  even  the  thickness  of  a  piece  of  book  paper  under 
one  end  of  either  bearer  will  have  an  appreciable  effect 
upon  the  impression.  Thebed  should  then  be  moved  for  ward 
to  bring  the  cylinder  directly  over  its  center.  At  this  point 
lower  the  cylinder  as  if  to  take  an  impression  and  place  the 
type-high  gage  between  the  bed  and  the  cylinder  bearers. 
Before  going  farther  into  the  adjustment  of  the  press, 
it  may  be  well  to  add  that  all  machines  do  not  have  the 
same  impression  mechanism,  and  on  some  presses  no  at- 
tention need  be  given  to  the  steady  screws  under  the 
cylinder  boxes,  or  to  the  "jackscrews, "  as  they  are  called 
in  the  press-room.  If  the  cylinder  is  too  high,  loosen 
these  screws  and  lower  them  out  of  the  way,  and  then 
loosen  the  check  nuts  on  the  lifting  rods  and  bring  the 
cylinder  down — slowly  at  first — on  one  side  and  then  on 
the  other.  Test  the  hight  with  the  type-high  gage  dur- 
ing each  stage  of  the  adjustment.  When  the  cylinder  is 
just  type-high,  be  sure  that  the  check-nuts  are  tight, 
and  then  proceed  to  raise  the  steady  screws  to  the  cylin- 
der boxes.  These  screws  should  be  set  snugly,  but  do 
not  force  them  up.  It  is  essential  to  test  the  hight  once 
more  before  moving  the  cylinder.  Exercise  great  care  to 
maintain  a  uniform  hight  between  press  bearers  and 
cylinder  bearers  on  both  sides  of  the  press. 


Cylinder  Press-work  99 

After  the  press  has  been  thoroly  overhauled  in  this 
manner,  it  is  further  necessary  to  examine  the  bed  bear- 
ers to  be  certain  that  they  are  type-high  and  free  from 
low  places.  This  should  be  done  by  placing  the  type- 
high  gage  over  the  bearers  and  by  moving  it  slowly  from 
one  end  to  the  other.  The  gage  should  fit  snugly  the 
entire  length  of  the  printing  stroke.  It  often  occurs  that 
the  bearers  are  worn  low.  In  these  cases  a  strip  of  manila 
paper,  such  as  is  used  for  draw  sheets,  should  be  placed 
under  them — enough  to  bring  them  to  type-hight. 
This  underlay  strip  must  be  of  full  width,  with  holes  cut 
to  conform  with  the  screw  holes  in  the  bearer.  Replace 
the  bearer  with  its  underlay  as  described  and  screw  it 
down  firmly. 

A  practice  which  is  most  damaging  to  vignetted  cuts, 
type  and  bearers,  consists  of  crowding  the  capacity  of 
the  press  with  forms  that  are  too  large.  Cuts  are  often 
locked  on  the  bed  of  the  press  without  a  chase  to  accom- 
modate an  extra  large  sheet.  The  rear  ends  of  the  bear- 
ers in  all  presses  are  reduced  slightly  in  hight,  and  in 
some  presses  both  ends  of  bearers  are  reduced,  so  that 
the  cylinder  is  lifted  gradually  upon  them.  This  clear- 
ance also  affords  freedom  of  action  when  the  bed  re- 
verses. When  a  form  crowds  the  rear  of  the  bed,  the 
cylinder  rests  upon  the  form  at  this  point  with  its  entire 
weight.  It  is  impossible  to  preserve  the  delicate  edges 
of  vignetted  cuts  under  these  circumstances. 

Some  pressmen  make  the  mistake  of  setting  the  grip- 
pers  to  the  pressboard  packing  before  the  cylinder  dress- 
ing or  top  sheets  have  been  applied.  As  a  result,  the  top 
sheets  and  the  tympan  have  a  tendency  to  force  the  cam 
away  from  the  stop,  which  causes  the  grippers  to  dig  into 


100  Practical  Printing 

the  sheet  and  throw  it  out  of  register.  To  secure  perfect 
register  the  grippers  should  not  be  set  or  adjusted  until 
the  full  amount  of  packing  and  dressing  has  been  put 
on  the  cylinder. 

It  is  frequently  necessary  to  readjust  the  intermediate 
driving  gear  in  most  makes  of  cylinder  presses.  This  gear 
should  be  set  to  run  in  close  mesh  with  the  main  cylin- 
der gear  and  the  driving  gear  when  the  cylinder  is  down 
on  the  impression.  To  set  the  intermediate  driving  gear, 
it  is  necessary  first  to  remove  the  gear  guards.  Then 
move  the  press  over  on  the  impression  and  loosen  the 
intermediate  gear  while  the  cylinder  is  down.  After  this 
has  been  done  the  pressman  should  stand  in  front  of  the 
gear  and  with  both  hands  slide  it  in  and  out  at  various 
points  on  the  impression.  If  the  gear  binds,  it  should  be 
reset.  To  do  this  loosen  the  stud  from  the  inside  of  the 
frame  of  the  press  and  drive  it  out  so  that  it  may  be 
turned  easily,  and  then  set  the  stud  so  that  the  gear  can 
be  slipped  off  and  on  to  the  stud  without  binding  the 
teeth  at  any  point  on  the  impression. 

Next  in  importance  are  the  sheet  bands.  These  should 
be  adjusted  after  the  cylinder  has  been  moved  around  to 
where  the  grippers  are  opposite  the  bands.  At  this  point 
the  pressman  should  loosen  the  bands  and  move  them 
along  the  rod  out  of  contact  with  the  grippers  or  "shoo- 
fly"  fingers.  Then  the  press  should  be  moved  forward  to 
the  point  of  taking  an  impression,  for  the  purpose  of  ad- 
justing the  bands  to  the  cylinder.  Take  a  strip  of  three- 
ply  cardboard,  one  inch  wide  and  about  four  inches  long, 
and  place  it  between  the  bands  and  the  cylinder  and  set 
them  firmly  up  to  this  card.  Then  test  the  setting  by 
moving  the  card  up  and  down  as  the  adjustment  is  being 


102  Practical  Printing 

made.  The  bands  should  apply  uniform  pressure  to  the  sheet 
at  all  points.  It  sometimes  becomes  necessary,  when  run- 
ning forms  composed  of  brass  rules,  vignetted  cuts,  and 
close  register  work,  to  hold  the  sheet  more  firmly  to  the 
surface  of  the  cylinder  during  the  printing  stroke.  This 
can  be  done  by  placing  a  tape  around  the  cylinder  be- 
tween the  center  margins  of  the  form,  fastening  it  to  the 
rod  which  supports  the  sheet  bands  and  tacking  it  to  a 
convenient  point  beneath  the  feed-board  at  the  rear. 

The  cylinder  press  of  today  represents  a  wonderful 
transformation  of  the  machine  of  but  a  few  years  ago.  Its 
speed  has  been  more  than  doubled,  its  product  is  superior 
in  every  way,  and  with  the  addition  of  the  automatic 
feeder,  carriage  sheet  delivery,  the  individual  motor,  and 
mechanism  for  dissipating  static  charges,  it  would  seem 
that  the  limit  of  improvement  has  finally  been  reached. 
And  yet,  each  day  the  patent  office  brings  forth  ample 
evidence  to  the  contrary  and  proof  positive  that  the  im- 
provements in  the  cylinder  press  will  be  even  more  rad- 
ical during  the  next  decade.  A  flat-bed  cylinder  press  of 
the  very  latest  type,  with  automatic  feeder  attached,  is 
shown  in  the  illustration  (Figure  55). 

The  automatic  feeder  is  now  a  substantial  factor  in 
every  well-equipped  cylinder  press-room.  Its  infallibility, 
speed  and  accuracy  in  handling  large  sheets  that  require 
close  register  feeding  are  undisputed  and  the  day  is  not 
far  distant  when  the  automatic  feeder  will  entirely  sup- 
plant  hand  feeding  in  the  large  book  houses.  This  em- 
phasizes the  importance  of  adding  a  few  brief  paragraphs 
on  feeder  adjustments,  especially  relating  to  features 
that  are  of  direct  concern  to  the  pressman. 

In  the  type  of  feeders  which  move  and   control  the 


Cylinder  Presswork  103 

sheet  by  combing  wheels  the  adjustment  of  the  feeding 
friction  rollers  should  be  thoroly  understood. 

The  mechanism  of  these  parts  is  shown  in  Figures  56 
and  57   for  the  purpose  of  more  clearly  describing  the 


Figures* 


adjustment,  which  is  made  in  the  following  manner: 
Place  a  one-eighth  of  an  inch  gage  strip  between  the 
bottom  of  the  drop  of  the  cam  A-119  and  the  cam  roller, 
as  shown  in  Figure  56.  Then  adjust  both  friction  rollers 


Figure  57 

so  that  they  will  barely  bite  a  piece  of  paper.  To  adjust 
turn  the  screw  marked  A  in  Figure  57. 


104 


Practical  Printing 


The  adjustment  of  the  latch  arm  is  made  by  placing  a 
three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  gage  piece  on  top  of  the  piston 
stem  of  the  right-hand  head  and  by  allowing  the  weight 
of  the  combing  wheel  to  rest  on  this.  (Figure  58.)  Then 
adjust  set  screw  in  arm  A-95  so  that  the  latch  on  A- 103 
is  even  with  the  edge  of  the  steel  face  on  arm  A- 104. 
The  left-hand  head  should  be  adjusted  in  the  same  man- 
ner. When  this  adjustment  is  made  the  roller  must  be  on 


A-103. 


Figure  58 

the  high  part  of  the  cam  and  the  other  combing  wheel 
must  be  held  all  the  way  up  by  using  a  wedge  on  the 
piston  stem,  or  by  other  means. 

When  down,  the  sheet  steel  trip  arm  A-79  (Figure  59) 
should  project  three-thirty-seconds  of  an  inch  below  the 
top  face  of  the  feed -roller  bracket  A-123.  When  in  this 
position,  place  a  three-thirty-second-inch  curved  gage  in 
each  groove  under  the  finger  marked  X,  the  groove  being 
three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  deep,  and  allow  the  fingers  of 


Cylinder  Presswork 


105 


the  arm  A-79  to  rest  on  these  while  tightening  the  screws 
which  hold  the  arm  in  place. 

It  is  very  essential  to  the  perfect  operation  of  the  ma- 
chine to  keep  the  feeder  valve  clean  and  free  from  paper 
lint,  Valve  and  chamber  are  shown  in  Figure  60  to 
demonstrate  clearly  the  method  of  cleaning.  Begin  by 
disconnecting  the  hose  A  from  the  nipple  B  and  then 


Figure  59 

take  out  the  bolts  marked  C  to  remove  valve  casting  A-75 
from  the  feeder  head.  After  this  has  been  done  take  off 
the  cap  A-76  and  remove  the  valve  stem  A-231.  Now 
thoroiy  clean  inside  of  valve  chamber  and  valve  stem, 
using  benzine  if  necessary. 

I  shall  dwell  but  a  moment  on  cylinder  press  make- 
ready.  A  paragraph  on  overlays  for  halftone  illustrations 
will  suffice. 

Pressmen  who  have  made  the  question  of  overlaying  a 
scientific  study  are  of  one  opinion  that  the  various  thick- 
nesses required  should  be  regulated  with  extreme  exact- 
ness. It  is  folly  to  look  at  a  cut  only  superficially  and  say 
that  selective  portions  require  an  eighty,  a  forty  or  a 
ten-pound  overlay,  or  no  overlay inp-,  as  the  case  may  be. 


106 


Practical  Printing 


The  maximum  range  of  an  overlay  should  not  exceed 
.005  inch,  and  this  and  the  intermediate  thicknesses 
should  be  measured  with  a  micrometer.  The  careless 
habit  of  using  any  available  paper  and  perhaps  four  or 
five  qualities  is  a  chief  cause  of  indifferent  results  in  the 
various  portions  of  a  large  sheet  of  halftone  illustrations. 
It  is  even  possible  to  put  the  amount  of  overlay  required 
for  certain  screens  in  exact  terms.  In  a  one  hundred-  or 


Figure  60 

one  hundred  and  thirty-three-line  engraving  the  maxi- 
mum thickness  in  the  deep  shadows  should  be  .0045  inch. 
This  should  -be  reduced  gradually  in  all  the  tones  from 
deep  shadows  to  extreme  high-lights  or  whites.  Medium 
shadows  or  quarter- whites  would  thus  require  .0035  inch 
or  a  ten-pound  folio  less  than  the  deep  shadows ;  the 
grays,  .0025  inch,  and  the  three-quarter  whites,  .0005 
inch  (equal  to  a  french  tissue).  Extreme  high-lights  or 
whites  will  not  require  overlaying  if  these  gradations  are 
strictly  adhered  to. 

There  is  still  another  detail  which  must  not  be  over- 


Cylinder  Presswork  107 

looked,  and  that  is  the  character  and  quality  of  the  half- 
tone mountings.  Any  kind  of  wood  makes  a  poor  base 
for  halftones  which  are  to  be  subjected  to  long  runs. 
Fifty  thousand  impressions  may  cause  the  metal  backing 
of  the  copper  shell  to  sink  .002  inch  into  the  wooden 
base,  which  will  seriously  weaken  the  effect  of  the  over- 
lay. The  leading  makers  of  high-grade  illustrated  cata- 
logs recognize  this  fact,  and  the  metal  base  and  the  pat- 
ent hook  are  rapidly  supplanting  all  other  mountings  for 
halftone  engravings.  For,  of  what  consequence  is  a  hard 
packing,  a  good  make-ready  and  a  firm  impression  if  the 
cuts  are  mounted  on  a  spongy  base?  Good  cuts,  metal 
bases,  a  hard  packing,  a  cut-out  overlay  as  above  described, 
and  a  good  machine  properly  adjusted,  will  produce  the 
exceptional  results  you  are  striving  for. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Printing  Inks 

EVERY  day  brings  forth  some  new  requirement  in 
the  production  of  certain  results  in  printing  and 
it  is  quite  true  that  the  ink  problem  is  the  most 
complex  of  those  with  which  the  pressman  has  to  contend. 
He  requires  a  hundred  grades  of  ink  to  produce  the  best 
results  on  a  hundred  different  surfaces.  An  ink  that  has 
been  specially  prepared  for  use  on  hard  bond  papers  will  not 
give  the  proper  results  on  coated  paper;  the  reds,  yellows 
and  blues  used  in  commercial  printing  would  be  pronounced 
failures  if  applied  in  trichromatic  printing  with  process 
plates ;  to  attempt  to  use  a  slow -drying  ink  on  an  auto- 
matic press  which  prints  from  four  to  five  thousand  im- 
pressions an  hour  would  mean  destruction  to  the  work ; 
even  a  good  job  ink  would  make  a  poor  cover  ink  and  it 
would  be  hardly  possible  to  use  a  fairly  good  cover  ink 
for  printing  on  brass  and  aluminum  unless  properly  pre- 
pared with  suitable  dryers. 

Fabric-finished  papers,  wrinkled  and  figured  stock, 
highly  glazed,  coated  and  calendered  papers,  meltons  and 
hard  bonds — all  of  these  demand  special  technical  knowl- 
edge of  inks  and  their  covering  and  worliing  properties. 
The  exacting  requirements  of  printing  inks  and  papers 
brought  about  by  the  modern  invention  of  fine  screen 
halftone  engravings  and  rapid  presses  is  a  subject  that  has 

[108] 


Printing  Inks  109 

been  covered  in  a  very  interesting  manner  and  at  consid- 
erable length  by  a  well-known  German  manufacturer  of 
printing  inks.  A  translated  excerpt  from  this  paper  will 
be  of  interest.  The  demands  upon  the  ink  maker  and  the 
paper  manufacturer  are  set  forth  as  follows : 

A  most  revolutionary  effect  in  the  manufacture  of  printing 
inks  and  printing  papers  resulted  thru  the  wonderful  improve- 
ments which  Levy  (an  American)  made  in  methods  of  reproduc- 
tion by  means  of  screens.  The  very  fine  Levy  screen,  with  its 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five,  two  hundred  and  even  three  hun- 
dred dots  to  the  square  inch,  produced  printing  plates  whose  fine 
halftones  made  the  greatest  possible  demands  on  paper  and  inks. 
The  fine  qualities  of  coated  papers  required  for  halftone  work 
were  first  successfully  made  and  used  in  America,  and  it  is  also 
to  America  that  we  owe  the  first  suitable  halftone  inks.  These 
glossy  papers  were  used  for  the  majority  of  the  better  class  of 
publications,  and  it  is  now  well  understood  that  many  of  the 
beautiful  and  luxurious  editions  and  periodicals  published  within 
the  last  few  years,  at  an  immense  expenditure  of  time  and  work, 
will  last  but  a  short  time.  And  it  is  most  especially  unfortunate 
that  the  artistic  inspiration  which  has  expressed  itself  in  the  il- 
lustrations and  composition  and  the  printing  of  such  works,  will 
not  become  a  heritage  of  future  generations.  It  is  doubtless  true 
that  the  high  gloss  obtained  by  means  of  hot  calendering  makes 
possible  an  extraordinary  clear  and  clean  impression;  that  the 
delicate  network  of  the  modern  halftone  prints  on  such  paper  so 
smoothly  and  softly  in  the  finest  halftones  that  a  delightful  effect 
is  produced.  It  is  therefore  no  doubt  a  difficult  task  to  cast  such 
papers  aside,  and  it  is  just  where  we  wish  to  attain  the  highest 
possibilities  of  the  halftone  process  that  we  wquld  wish  to  con- 
tinue to  use  such  papers  as  long  as  no  good  substitute  can  be 
found.  To  produce  such  a  substitute  must  therefore  be  the  high- 
est ideal  towards  which  the  paper  manufacturer  should  strive. 

In  short  the  author  of  this  paragraph  frankly  admits 
that  we  have  attained  the  very  highest  perfection  in  the 


110  Practical  Printing 

combination  of  halftones,  highly  finished  papers  and 
modern  process  inks,  but  he  laments  the  fact  that  the 
product  lacks  the  enduring  qualities  of  the  letter-press 
of  a  decade  or  even  a  century  ago. 

But,  even  as  we  have  improved  the  quality  of  the  pro- 
duct so  are  we  at  this  very  moment  making  strides  toward 
the  improvement  of  the  lasting — the  enduring — qualities 
of  these  excellent  products  of  the  modern  printing  press. 
An  important  step  in  advance  is  found  in  a  declining  use 
of  these  very  highly  finished,  glossy  and  chalky  surfaced 
papers  and  in  the  substitution  of  the  new-process,  dull- 
finish  papers.  The  ink  maker,  encouraged  by  the  efforts 
of  the  paper  maker,  is  doing  his  share  by  producing  inks 
that  are  in  perfect  working  harmony  with  these  new 
ideas  in  halftone  printing  papers.  In  these  new,  unglazed 
papers  the  coating  is  made  thinner,  its  composition  is  im- 
proved, and  thus  the  gloss  is  avoided,  and  yet  there  re- 
mains a  soft  and  agreeable  surface  and  a  sympathetic  tex- 
ture. Furthermore  the  chemical  properties  of  the  surfac- 
ing of  these  papers  has  been  improved  toward  giving 
longer  life  to  the  inked  impression. 

So  much  for  halftone  printing  in  black  and  white  ;  but, 
before  we  touch  the  problems  surrounding  the  use  of 
colored  inks  it  will  be  well  to  go  deeper  into  the  prac- 
tical side  of  black  inks  as  used  in  everyday  commercial 
work. 

On  very  hard  papers,  or  papers  that  are  highly  glazed, 
certain  inks  take  hold  with  difficulty.  Others  may  ad- 
here readily  but  dry  slowly.  The  trouble  may  be  reme- 
died by  printing  a  second  time  with  a  little  varnish  mixed 
with  dryer.  The  ink  will  be  quite  dry  in  a  few  hours 


Printing  Inks  111 

and  the  second  impression  will  give  a  luster  to  the  color. 
Upon  gelatin  paper,  which  has  an  extremely  hard  sur- 
face, it  has  been  found  advantageous  to  make  the  first 
impression  with  varnish.  This  should  be  allowed  to  dry 
thoroly  before  running  a  second  time. 

When  ink  is  too  stiff  for  use  on  coated  or  delicately  - 
surfaced  paper  it  should  be  reduced  with  linseed  oil  or 
vaseline.  With  some  grades  of  ink  common  lard  is  even 
more  effective.  Never  use  a  reducer  to  excess,  as  it  tends 
to  degrade  the  color.  If  picking  or  pulling  is  caused  by 
the  low  temperature,  it  is  far  better  to  remedy  the  trouble 
by  supplying  the  proper  heat  in  the  press-room  than  to 
attempt  to  improve  matters  by  the  use  of  ink  reducers. 

A  stiff,  finely-ground  ink  should  be  used  on  hard  bond 
papers.  The  right  quality  will  cover  well  and  lend  a  sharp 
impression  to  small  lining  gothic  types  and  card  fonts, 
while  a  free-flowing  ink  would  require  an  open  fountain, 
with  blurred  and  filled  letters  as  a  result*  It  is  always 
best  to  order  inks  specially  prepared  for  the  purpose, 
from  a  reliable  ink  house. 

Copying  inks  should  be  reduced  with  glycerin,  not 
with  water. 

It  is  a  matter  of  economy  to  buy  inks  which  require 
little  or  no  reducing.  There  are  a  number  of  special  ad- 
mixtures, however,  sold  under  trade  names,  such  as 
Lakotine, "  many  of  which  are  of  the  consistency  of 
free-flowing  ink.  A  good  reducer  of  this  kind  will  add 
materially  to  the  working  qualities  of  the  ink  without  de- 
teriorating its  color.  These  special  reducers  increase  the 
covering  qualities  of  any  ink,  which  is  a  matter  of  econ- 
omy at  the  outset,  and  they  add  enough  in  volume  to 


112  Practical  Printing 

effect  a  considerable  reduction  in  the  total  cost  per  pound. 
These  are  points  of  superiority  not  found  in  the  ordinary 
petroleum  reducers. 

High-priced  gloss  inks  are  of  little  practical  value. 
They  dry  out  rapidly  and  go  to  waste  in  the  can.  It  is 
more  economical  and  quite  as  satisfactory  to  add  gloss 
varnish  to  a  good  quality  of  medium-priced  ink. 

By  adding  an  aniline  dye-stuff  to  an  ordinary  job  black 
the  sheen  of  bronze  inks  may  be  produced. 

A  thick,  solid  or  heavy  appearance  is  secured  by  mix- 
ing white  lead  with  the  ink.  The  opposite  or  a  transpar- 
ent effect  is  produced  by  using  magnesia.  A  granulated 
appearance  of  the  color  is  produced  by  adding  a  sapon- 
aceous or  a  spirit  varnish  to  the  ink.  When  varnish  of 
this  kind  is  used  the  ink  in  the  fountain  should  be  worked 
up  frequently  with  a  knife. 


Sarltt 

Co 
A 

InTermtJiaTe  Tones 

y 

OocokK 

A    InrermfditKTonrt      K 

Grrm 

Figure  61 

In  an  article  on  "The  Science  of  Printing  Colors,"  in 
the  April,  1906,  issue  of  THE  AMERICAN  PRINTER,  I  formu- 
lated a  law  and  set  forth  a  simple  method  for  producing 
harmonious  color  relations.  An  entirely  original  diagram 
illustrating  the  scale  of  color  value  was  included  also. 
This  entire  article  was  reproduced  abroad  in  one  British 
and  two  continental  printing  trade  publications.  The 
theory  of  color  harmony  as  set  forth  and  the  practical 
utility  of  this  method  of  determining  correct  color  values 
have  left  their  mark  upon  the  products  of  the  color  printer. 


Printing  Inks  113 

A  detailed  chart  for  producing  harmonious  color  rela- 
tions in  accordance  with  the  laws  as  set  forth  in  the 
article  of  1906  and  apparently  based  upon  the  crude  dia- 
gram illustrated  at  that  time  (Figure  6l)  has  just  lately 
been  patented  and  is  now  published  and  distributed  by  a 
leading  ink  house  as  "Maratta's  Chromatoscope. " 

Marked  improvement  has  been  made  upon  the  idea  and 
diagram  as  originally  set  forth,  but  the  logic  and  sound 
practical  worth  of  the  matter  pertaining  thereto  remains 
unchallenged  as  a  valuable  lesson  on  the  subject  of  color 
printing.  The  essence  of  the  article  is  as  follows  : 

The  study  of  color  values  is  our  first  lesson  in  color 
harmony.  We  can  approach  or  arrive  at  any  color  from 
black  or  white  or  from  any  other  contrasting  color.  That 
is  to  say,  we  might  continue  to  add  green  to  scarlet  until 
the  mixture  represented  an  equal  quantity  of  each  color 
and  the  result  would  be  a  deep  chocolate,  and  then,  if  we 
continued  to  add  green  in  increasing  quantities,  we  would 
gradually  arrive  at  a  deep  green,  which  would  grow  to  a 
brighter  tone  as  we  increased  the  proportion  of  green.  To 
illustrate  the  scale  of  values  let  us  arrange  these  colors  in 
a  band  with  scarlet  to  the  left  and  green  to  the  right,  as 
shown  in  the  diagram.  Instead  of  working  from  scarlet 
to  green,  we  will  approach  chocolate  in  the  center,  from 
the  two  ends  of  the  band.  To  scarlet  we  add  increasing 
proportions  of  green,  thus  producing  all  the  intermediate 
tones,  until  we  finally  arrive  at  chocolate  in  the  center. 
To  the  left  we  have  a  scale  of  values,  each  tone  being 
related  to  scarlet  and  chocolate,  the  two  extremes.  A 
similar  scale  is  noted  to  the  right,  between  chocolate  and 
green.  Straight  scarlet  and  green,  on  both  ends  of  the 


114  Practical  Printing 

band,  produce  a  discord  if  worked  close  together  in  equal 
proportions.  A  printer  with  a  keen  perception  of  color 
harmony  would  consider  bright  red  and  bright  green  a 
poor  color  scheme.  He  would  produce  harmony  by  add- 
ing a  small  quantity  of  green  to  the  scarlet  to  bring  it  to 
the  tone  in  the  scale  marked  A,  and  by  softening  the 
green  with  scarlet,  in  like  manner,  to  bring  it  to  the 
tone  in  the  scale  marked  A  in  the  opposite  end  of  the 
band.  These  two  hues  worked  together  would  make  an 
agreeable  color  scheme.  If  he  would  produce  a  warm 
effect,  in  complete  harmony  the  admixture  of  green  and 
scarlet  should  be  increased  in  both  cases  down  to  the 
neighborhood  of  B  in  both  sides  of  the  scale.  The  result 
would  be  a  reddish  brown  and  a  deep  green — a  most  ex- 
cellent choice  of  colors.  All  the  tones  between  scarlet 
and  chocolate  are  in  harmony  and  any  two  of  them  may 
be  worked  together  with  propriety  so  long  as  they  are 
separated  from  each  other  by  a  sufficient  number  of  de- 
grees of  value.  The  same  is  true  of  the  hues  in  the  right 
side  of  the  band. 

According  to  the  diagram,  scarlet  and  a  greenish  choc- 
olate would  form  a  strongly  contrasting  color  scheme,  and 
yet  harmonious,  while  at  the  other  end  of  the  scale  green 
and  chocolate  would  produce  an  equally  harmonious  and 
strongly  contrasting  color  scheme.  Some  of  the  most 
agreeable  color  combinations  are  produced  by  the  associa- 
tion of  various  tones  of  the  last-named  colors. 

Primary  colors  should  not  be  used  with  the  comple- 
mentary colors  next  to  them,  as  yellow  and  green,  blue 
and  green,  red  and  purple,  yellow  and  orange,  red  and 
orange,  and  similar  combinations.  Neither  should  a  color 


Printing  Inks  115 

be  printed  upon  paper  of  its  complementary  color.  For 
instance,  blue  ink  upon  green  paper  would  be  dull  and 
unsatisfactory.  This  relates  to  straight  colors  only  and 
does  not  refer  to  the  association  of  the  hues  and  bi-hues. 
Any  of  these  may  be  used  together  if  they  are  modified  or 
reduced  to  hues  which  incline  toward  each  other.  That 
is  to  say,  on  orange-yellow  and  a  bluish-green  will  form 
a  more  pleasing  combination  than  yellow  and  green. 

THREE-  AND  FOUR-COLOR  PROCESS  INKS 

Trichromatic  printing  plates,  in  which  the  tonal  values 
of  the  three  registering  printing  surfaces  are  produced 
by  photo-mechanical  means,  have  opened  up  an  entirely 
new  field  to  the  ink  maker  and  the  colorist.  We  are  far 
from  exact  when  we  speak  broadly  of  reproducing  the 
exact  colors  of  an  original  subject  by  successive  printings 
of  yellow,  red  and  blue  from  as  many  plates  in  which  the 
tonal  values  have  been  properly  and  selectively  graduated. 
Superior  results  in  three-color  printing  from  process  en- 
gravings are  dependent  upon  far-reaching  scientific  re- 
search on  the  part  of  the  ink  maker.  The  yellow  must 
be  absolutely  correct,  and  such  a  color  cannot  be  pro- 
duced by  mixing. 

Chrome  yellow  and  yellow  with  a  reddish  tint  have 
been  used  with  indifferent  success,  but  the  permanent 
and  the  truly  correct  shade  can  only  be  produced  by  the 
use  of  cadmium  yellow,  zinc  yellow  or  Chinese  yellow. 
The  blue  should  be  between  peacock  blue  and  verdine 
green.  Some  pressmen  add  a  very  small  quantity  of  very 
light  green  to  the  process  blue  generally  sold  by  ink 
makers,  to  bring  it  to  the  proper  tone.  If  you  prefer  to 


116  Practical  Printing    ,< 

avoid  experiments  it  will  be  well  to  order  a  special  pea- 
cock blue  from  a  reliable  ink  house.  A  good  and  satis- 
factory process  red  is  difficult  to  procure.  There  are  few 
reds  that  can  be  termed  permanent  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  word.  To  produce  the  best  results  it  is  often  neces- 
sary to  add  a  very  slight  touch  of  blue  to  the  process  red 
commonly  sold.  This  lends  brilliancy  to  the  finished  pic- 
ture. I  would  advise  a  red  of  a  tone  somewhat  between 
rose  bengal  and  erythrosine. 

Arthur  Freiherrn  Von  Hubl,  of  Vienna,  Austria,  an 
eminent  authority  on  color  photography  and  trichromatic 
printing,  says :  We  must  select  a  yellow  without  a  red 
shade,  a  pink-like  carmine  and  a  greenish-blue. ' ' 


CHAPTER  XII 

From  Superintendent  to  Shipper 

'  "1 ^ROM  the  Superintendent's  Desk  to  the  Shipping- 
|1       Room"  pertains  to  system.   It  conducts  the  work 
in  an  orderly  manner  thru  every  process  of  manu- 
facture and  affords  means  of  securing  a  positive  know- 
ledge of  costs  at  every  stage  of  the  journey  to  comple- 
tion. 

Too  much  system  is  likely  to  entail  a  millstone  of  red 
tape.  Lack  of  system  is  still  more  dangerous  to  success 
from  the  opposite  point  of  view.  The  safe  and  sane  posi- 
tion is  the  one  occupied  by  the  printer  who  adopts  only 
such  records  and  systems  of  entry  which  have  proven 
advantageous  in  conducting  the  most  successful  establish- 
ments. By  selecting  one  or  two  of  the  best  records  of 
entry  from  among  those  in  use  in  a  dozen  reputable 
plants  and  by  eliminating  the  'not  absolutely  necessary" 
we  will  have  a  series  of  cards,  tickets  and  other  records 
very  closely  approaching  perfection.  Such  a  system  will 
be  neither  cumbersome  nor  insufficient. 

Lest  this  chapter  exceeds  the  space  allotted  the  subject, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  eliminate  business  office  entries, 
which  include  estimates,  purchases  and  general  account- 
ing. That  branch  of  the  subject  has  been  ably  handled 
by  Ransom  Dickinson  Pratt  in  a  series  of  articles  on 

[lit] 


118 


Practical  Priniing 


JOB  TICKET 


Job 




ASK    IF  YQU  PO  NOT  UNDERSTAND 


THIS  JOB  MUSI  BE  BBUVERED  BY 

Form  
Order 

ouximnr  

OVER 

SHORT 

Kind  of  Work. 


COMPOSITION . 


Set „     Number  of  Pjo 

No.  of  Plates    ..  3! 


_____  .  ____  «  Sides 


Work  and  Turn. 


PAPER         T        -                                             ,  ,        OJor  .„.,„„_ 

Sheet*  • 

Sheet* 

T         =                                                                      « 

Sheets 

Con*            -     X          —            ,                                                                "       - 

Sheets 

CUT                                                  /.X                                    *.r^ttn. 

RULING 


BINWNG 


Sent  to  Bindery 
Sent  to  Job  Room 
Sent  to  Press  Room 
Returned  to  Bindery 
Sent  to  Shipper 


Figure  61  a 

Accounting  for  the  Printers'  Cost"    in  THE  AMERICAN 
PRINTER,  volumes  45  and  46. 

After  the  job  has  been  entered  in  the  order  book  and 


Q 

« 
O 
O 

rt 

« 
o 


I! 


cl 


II 


120  Practical  Printing 

the  specification  blank  returns  to  the  superintendent's 
desk  the  next  step  usually  places  the  work  into  the  hands 
of  the  foreman  of  the  composing-room,  the  exception 
being  in  the  case  of  blank  books,  ruled  headings  and  work 
of  similar  character  which  first  must  go  to  the  bindery. 
The  vehicle  of  conveyance  from  the  business  office  to  the 
manufacturing  departments  is  thru  the  job  ticket  or  job 
envelop.  This  is  the  record  of  greatest  import  to  the  per- 
fect progress  of  the  work.  It  must  be  complete  and  filled 
out  in  detail,  even  to  the  extent  of  obviating  verbal  ex- 
planations. As  a  perfect  job  ticket  it  must  contain  a  de- 
scription of  every  process  required  to  complete  the  work 
in  the  composing-room,  in  the  press-room,  in  the  bindery, 
in  the  stock -room,  in  the  cutting  department  and,  finally, 
instructions  to  the  shipper.  The  best  device  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  one  which  has  given  complete  satisfaction  in  a 
model  plant,  is  in  the  shape  of  a  commodious  envelop  and 
job  ticket  combined.  This  I  will  designate  as  the  Exline 
job  envelop.  A  facsimile  as  used  by  this  progressive  Dal- 
las (Tex.)  house  is  shown  (Figure  61a).  One  of  its  most 
excellent  features  is  its  large  size,  ten  by  twelve  inches, 
which  permits  of  enclosing  a  considerable  amount  of  copy. 
All  other  tickets  in  the  shape  of  cards  or  printed  blank 
forms  are  impracticable.  Forms  of  this  character  are  re- 
sponsible for  much  loss  of  copy  and  other  valuable  data, 
which  must  be  attached  thereto  with  clips  and  pins.  As 
to  entry  spaces,  front  and  back,  the  Exline  envelop  is 
complete,  and,  if  properly  filled  by  the  superintendent, 
it  will  conduct  the  woik  in  an  orderly  manner  thru  every 
channel. 

After  this  ticket  reaches  the  composing-room  foreman's 


Noiinsiuisia 

SNOiivuanv 

0 

* 

• 

0 

-J 

*IOM  ouo)$ 

dflaxvH 

dNOO  ear 

1 

COMPOSING-ROOM  TIME  TICKET 

a 
c 

u 
C 

2 

C 

a 
i 
u 

h 
C 

Q 
Li 
i 

;  I 

:    - 
)    t 

l 

s 

:u 
C 

'! 

0 

II 

= 

1- 

RECAPITULATION 

1      * 
i 
> 

i 

I 

i 

<s 

i 
i 
c 
e 

5 

; 

1 

! 

1 

1 

| 

| 

1 

1 

| 

i 

j 

1 

122  Practical  Printing 

desk  it  should  immediately  come  into  touch  with  another 
very  important  record.  This  shall  be  designated  the 
Composing- Room  Record  of  Jobs."  You  will  see  the 
value  of  a  book  of  this  kind  (Figure  62)  as  now  used  by 
the  Dorsey  Printing  Company,  recognized  as  one  of  the 
best  regulated  complete  printing  concerns  in  America. 
Similar  records,  paged  and  numbered  in  like  manner,  are 
also  used  in  other  departments.  When  entries  are  prop- 
erly made  this  book  takes  the  place  of  the  multitude  of 
tickets  which  help  to  make  up  the  more  cumbersome  sys- 
tems in  daily  use  thruout  the  country.  This  record  is  put 
up  in  a  serviceable  binding  of  canvas,  paged  and  num- 
bered to  hold  one  hundred  job  entries  to  the  leaf.  Here 
is  a  positive  check  on  every  job  in  hand,  enabling  the 
head  of  any  department  to  report  the  condition  of  the 
work  at  a  minute's  notice.  With  the  exception  of  the 
columns  ' 'For  Whom, ' '  "Description"  and ' 'Compositor, ' ' 
all  other  records  are  filled  in  with  a  rubber  dater.  If  the 
superintendent  telephones  to  the  foreman  of  the  compos- 
ing-room for  a  report  on  ticket  number  42136  it  is  only 
necessary  to  turn  to  leaf  100  which  will  show  that  the 
work  is  in  the  hands  of  Brown,  compositor,  or  that  proof 
has  been  sent  to  customer,  or  that  the  work  is  in  the 
bindery,  the  press-room,  or  in  the  shipping-room  for  de- 
livery. A  call  to  any  other  department  will  meet  with 
similarly  prompt  response. 

After  the  foreman  of  the  composing-room  has  made  his 
job  record  entry  his  next  step  will  be  to  examine  his 
ticket  carefully  preparatory  to  turning  the  work  over  to  a 
compositor.  He  will  note  the  quantity  and  size  of  sheet 
which  should  govern  the  advisability  of  setting  one  or 


h 

Ul 

o 

h 

u 

I 

h 


1 

I 

? 

£ 

a 

j1 

ti 

*u 

1 

J 

J 

J               HO/VO  ~r 

T" 

*U 

Ifl 

F 

E 

1 

<*t 

T[ 

3n 

s 

s 

5 

\ 

s 

\1 

NAME"  JOB 

II 

124  Practical  Printing 

two  on,  or  of  sending  the  work  to  the  foundry  for  the 
purpose  of  making  a  set  of  electrotypes.  Spaces  for  these 
notations  are  supplied  on  the  job  envelop  (Figure  6 la). 

After  the  job  has  reached  the  compositor  the  time 
ticket  will  be  the  next  record  to  come  into  use.  A  very 
simple  form  is  recommended,  preferably  a  ticket  divided 
into  ten  or  fifteen  minute  columns  (Figures  63  and  64>\  It 
is  unprofitable  to  burden  the  workmen  with  too  much  sys- 
tem. For  this  reason  all  entries  of  time  should  be  shorn 
of  detailed  annotations.  It  is  useless  to  specify  time  for 
office  corrections,  taking  proofs,  etc.,  unless  these  items 
come  under  the  head  of  author's  alterations,  which  en- 
tail additional  charges. 

The  above  ticket,  or  tickets  very  much  similar  in  char- 
acter, are  giving  satisfactory  service  in  all  departments  of 
the  Matthews-Northrup  Works,  Buifalo;  Woodward  & 
Tiernan,  St.  Louis ;  The  Henry  O.  Shepard  Company, 
Chicago,  and  other  well-regulated  plants.  Time  ticket 
entries  should  correspond  with  total  time  entered  on  the 
back  of  the  job  envelop.  An  additional  time  slip  should 
be  used  when  a  number  of  men  are  employed  on  the  s,,me 
job.  A  small  slip  of  memorandum  size  will  answer  the 
purpose  (Figure  65.)  This  slip  should  be  turned  in  to  the 
man  in  charge  of  the  job  at  the  close  of  each  day.  It  is 
customary  to  preserve  these  slips  on  a  spindle  until  the 
completion  of  the  work,  when  the  time  is  totaled  and  en- 
tered on  the  back  of  the  regular  job  envelop.  This  saves 
unnecessary  accounting  in  the  business  office.  Time  tickets 
of  similar  size,  style  and  character  should  be  used  by  the 
workmen  in  all  other  departments. 

From  the  compositor's  frame  the  next  journey  is  to  the 


From  Superintendent  to  Shipper      125 

proof-room.  A  great  deal  has  been  said  recently  concerning 
methods  of  proving  and  about  sending  proofs  to  customers. 
The  plan  of  taking  hand-press  proofs  in  the  exact  colors 
specified  and  on  the  stock  called  for  in  the  finished 
product  is  advocated  by  some.  This  is  time-consuming 
and  expensive.  A  better  plan,  and  one  practiced  by  a 
great  many  successful  printers,  is  to  take  all  proofs  in 
black  ink  on  french  folio.  These  proofs  may  be  tipped 
on  sheets  of  the  exact  stocks  to  be  used.  Such  proofs  an- 
swer well  in  pasting  up  ruled  blank  book  headings. 

The  next  item  entering  into  the  system  of  conducting 
the  work  thru  the  mechanical  departments  is  the  proof 
envelop.  It  should  contain  instructions  to  the  customer 
plainly  printed  on  the  outside.  If  these  directions  are 
carefully  worded  they  will  act  as  a  safeguard  against  re- 
sponsibility for  errors  in  copy.  There  are  many  good  envel- 
ops in  use,  among  these  Figure  66  is  offered  as  a  sug- 
gestion. Proof  envelops  should  be  large  enough  to  hold 
an  8%xll  inch  sheet  without  folding. 

All  proofs  sent  out  should  be  accompanied  by  a  receipt 
for  the  customer's  signature.  The  book  of  carboncd  copies 
should  be  retained  in  the  proof-room.  This  is  insurance 
against  a  customer's  negligence  and  a  check  on  the  er- 
rand boy.  A  simple  form  of  this  kind  suffices  (Figure  67). 

The  customer's  O.K.  permits  the  job  ticket  to  move 
forward  to  the  stock-room.  If  the  cutting  instructions  on 
the  original  envelop  have  been  correctly  filled  out  there 
will  be  no  need  of  an  auxiliary  cutting  ticket.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  the  fewer  the  tickets  the  less  danger  of 
complication.  Only  in  rare  instances  is  it  necessary  to 
attach  an  auxiliary  cutting  slip.  Such  a  slip  should  be 


126  Practical  Printing 

used  only  when  combinations  of  several  jobs  are  to  be 
printed  on  the  same  sheet  or  in  working  out  schemes  to  save 
impressions  by  using  electros,  etc.,  whereby  the  original 
sizes  of  paper,  as  planned  in  the  business  office,  must  be 
changed  for  the  sake  of  economy.  When  two  or  more 
tickets  are  combined  in  this  manner  they  should  be  clipped 
together  with  a  combination  cutting  slip  tipped  on  the 
outer  envelop.  Slips  of  this  kind  are  preferably  printed 
on  gummed  paper  and  padded  (Figure  68). 


TIME  SLIP 


To  be  attached  to  job  envelop  No.- 
close  of  each  day's  work. 


Description  of  job- 
Compositor 


at  the 


8      9     10    11     12     1 


3      4 


Total  time. 
Date 


Figure  65 

A  rack,  filled  with  a  half  dozen  or  more  of  rubber  stamps, 
will  be  a  convenience  to  the  composing-room  foreman  in 
giving  instructions  to  the  stoneman  as  well  as  to  the  fore- 
man of  the  press-room.  These  should  consist  of  the  fol- 
lowing: "Gordon,"  "Cylinder,"  "Pony,"  "Work -and- 
turn,"  "Sheetwise,"  "Saddlestitch, "  "Gathered,"  etc. 


From  Superintendent  to  Shipper       127 

Instructions   of  this  kind    should    be    stamped    on    the 
O.K.'d  proofs. 

As  the  job  continues  on  its  journey  thru  the  press-room 
and  the  bindery  it  should  be  followed  closely  by  the  job 
envelop,  which  should  answer  well  as  a  perfect  substitute 


PROOF 

G.G.RENNEKERCO. 

PRINTERS  AND  BINDERS 

233-235-237  East  Randolph  Street  CHICAGO 

READ  CAREFULLY 

Especially  for  name*,  addresses,  figures  and  technical  words. 

Return* the  original  copy  with  the  proof. 

Write  on  proof  number  of  copies  and  color  of  ink  wauled,  if  not 

Mark  corrections  plainly  and  on  margins  wherever  practicable. 
Mark  "O.  K."  or  "O.  K.  with  Correction!"  as  the  cas.  nay  be. 

Do  not  send  vjbal"1*'  "* 


Phone 
Main  477$ 


Phone 
Main  4754 


Figure  66 

for  a  myriad  of  ultra-clever  devices  constantly  emanating 
from  the  brains  of  too  earnest  advocates  of  system. 

Specifications  covering  case-bound  books  usually  re- 
quire detailed  description.  Entries  of  this  kind  general- 
ly are  too  extensive  to  be  embraced  in  the  regular  job 
ticket.  These  are  the  only  jobs  that  require  special  tickets 


1 28  Practical  Printing    ,  - 

or  instructions  that  cannot  well  be  entered  on  the  job 
envelop.  Figure  69  covers  about  everything  required  for 
this  purpose. 

If  you  have  completed  your  work  in  a  finished  and  ex- 
emplary manner  do  not  tolerate  a  set-back  thru  the  prac- 


Job  No Date- 


Received  of 

The  Franklin  Company 

Printers  and  Engravers 

Proof  of  _ 

Delivered  to 

Signed 


Figure  67 

tice  of  slovenly  methods  in  your  shipping-room.  See  to  it 
that  your  packages  and  bundles  are  as  neat  and  present- 
able as  possible.  Use  good  and  substantial  wrapping  pa- 


COMBINATION  CUTTING  SLIP 

Attached  to  tickets  Nos 

Cut sheets _  x  __  Cut  remnants 

Cut sheets _x x. — 

Cut sheets x 

NOTE— WEIGHTS  AND  STOCKS  GIVEN  ON  JOB  ENV. 


Figure  68 


From  Superintendent  to  Shipper       129 

per  of  uniform  color,  and  caution  against  finger  marks 
and  slovenly  addressing.  Use  a  shipping  label  in  thoro 
keeping  with  the  artistic  appearance  of  your  office  sta- 
tionery. Letterheads,  billheads  and  all  other  forms  such 


BINDERY  CASE 

SPECIFICATIONS  BOUND  BOOKS 

JOB  TICKET  No.- 

Note. — See   detailed  specifications  as  to  number  of    copies, 
number  of  pages,  size  of  page,  etc. ,  as  given  on  job  ticket. 


On  tapes 

Without  tapes 

Trimmed  size x Head  Bands. 

END  SHEETS 

Plain Edges Litho 

CASE 

Stiff^  Flexible. ._. 

Cloth  Leather^  Board_ 


STAMPING 

Trout Backbone 

Gold__  Metal  _  Ink. 


Figure  69 

as  are  usually  delivered  loose  and  flat  should  be  packed 
in  specially  manufactured  boxes  supplied  with  end  labels 
of  artistic  design.  All  box  and  package  labels  should 
contain  the  printer's  trade -mark,  monogram  or  imprint, 
conspicuously  displayed. 


130  Practical  Printing 

Finally,  be  sure  to  safeguard  your  deliveries  by  re- 
quiring an  adequate  receipt  for  your  goods.  Forms  of  this 
kind  should  contain  an  acknowledgment  of  a  condition  of 
the  goods,  number  of  packages  and  full  count,  together 
with  date  received,  name  of  person  making  delivery,  to 
whom  and  where  delivery  was  made,  etc.  Press  counter 
record  and  packers'  verification  also  should  appear,  each 
properly  checked  and  O.K.'d  by  the  shipper. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

In  the  Shipping-room 

;"W  "Jf  TE  couldn't  improve  the  powder,  so  we've  im- 
\/  \f  proved  the  box."  This  is  the  new  argument 
of  an  up-to-date  manufacturer  of  talcum  powder. 
"The  inner-seal  package"  versus  the  "paPer  sack"  has 
been  used  equally  well  in  creating  a  national  demand  for 
a  certain  brand  of  soda  biscuits.  It  is  just  beginning  to 
dawn  upon  the  manufacturer  and  the  producer  that 
special  attractiveness  in  wrappers  or  meritorious  im- 
provements in  cartoons  and  packages  are  most  powerful 
advertisers  and  trade  stimulators.  Canned  fly-paper  is 
another  new  one  and  the  idea  is  making  a  fortune  for  its 
originator.  If  it  is  true  that  we  have  just  entered  the 
period  of  the  special  proprietary  package  and  if  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  character  of  the  outer  covering  of  a  com- 
modity has  greater  selling  force  than  the  quality  of  the 
article  itself,  then  it  must  apply  that  even  the  printer 
may  derive  some  benefit  by  improving  the  outer  appear- 
ance of  the  consignments  from  his  shipping-room. 

Therefore,  if  you  have  exerted  every  effort  in  the  vari- 
ous manufacturing  departments  of  your  plant  to  the  im- 
provement of  your  products,  do  not  permit  adverse  criti- 
cism thru  careless  methods  and  mismanagement  in  your 
shipping-room. 

Careless  packing  and  insecure  wrapping  are  frequent 

[  131  ] 


132 


Practical  Printing 


causes  of  damage  in  transit.  Occasionally  there  may  be 
reason  for  a  complete  loss  of  both  customer  and  account. 
Loose  office  stationery,  such  as  is  usually  delivered  in  flat 
sheets  without  padding,  should  never  be  sent  out  in  or- 
dinary paper  wrappings  tied  with  common  cord.  The 


Figure  70 

foremost  printers  of  the  country  long  ago  abandoned 
these  slovenly  methods  of  delivery.  Special  boxes  of  vari- 
ous sizes,  purposely  made  to  hold  quantities  of  five  hun- 
dred or  one  thousand  letterheads,  billheads,  statements 
or  office  stationery  of  other  sizes,  are  now  made  and  kept 
in  stock  by  the  leading  paper  box  factories  and  printers' 
supply  houses.  When  the  stamp  of  individuality  is  desired 


346-35O  DEARBORN  STREET,  CHICAGO, ILL. 


Figure  71 


:i 


**&** 


DESI^NER^  IN^RAYERS  EIEGTROTYPER^  PRINTERS 


346-35O  DEARBORN  STREET  -•.  CHICAGO,  ILL.^g! 


Figure 


1 
134  Practical  Printing 

in  all  packages  that  come  from  your  house  it  is  advisable 
to  procure  boxes  made  to  your  order.  These  may  be  suit- 
ably stamped  or  printed  to  show  your  shop  device  or 
trade-mark,  or  preferably  an  artistic  label  printed  in  one 
or  two  colors  and  gold.  A  patented  box  of  this  character, 
especially  devised  for  printers,  is  shown  in  Figure  70. 
This  box  opens  flat  like  an  ordinary  paper  wrapper  and 
it  is  die-cut  and  scored  in  an  ingenious  manner  so  that 
it  maybe  folded  around  a  '  lift"  of  square  sheets  in  the 
form  of  a  perfectbox.  A  suitable  telescoping  lid  lends  dura- 
bility and  improves  the  appearance  of  the  consignment 
thus  enclosed.  The  outside  paper  wrappers  of  these  boxes 
should  be  of  uniform  grade  and  all  of  one  color.  In  fact 
it  is  well  to  adopt  some  distinguishing  shop"  color  for 
all  boxes,  wrappers,  envelops  and  special  enclosures. 
Even  the  twine  and  wrapping  cord  should  be  in  color- 
harmony  with  the  package.  In  a  very  short  time  after 
this  plan  is  adopted  your  customers  will  be  able  to  recog- 
nize the  packages  that  come  from  your  house  at  a  glance 
and  the  impression  thus  created  will  become  a  real  asset 
from  an  advertising  standpoint. 

Do  not  slight  your  labels  and  shipping  tags  on  the 
common  theory  that  any  old  form  of  address  will  suffice 
in  securing  proper  delivery.  Remember,  always,  that  it 
is  impression  that  counts  in  everything  now-a-days.  Your 
tags  and  labels  should  be  the  best  that  your  artistic  skill 
can  produce.  Special  engravings  and  printing  in  several 
colors  are  by  no  means  extravagant  ventures  when  ap- 
plied to  the  improvement  of  packages  for  shipment.  A 
shipping  tag  and  a  package  label,  in  complete  harmony, 
both  typographically  and  in  color-scheme,  are  here  illus- 


REMINDER 

DO  NOT  permit  your  printing  to  run  dowr.  to  a  single  day's 
supplies.  Place  your  orders  a  week  or  two  .n  advance  to  assure 
delivery  of  a  well  seasoned  product  before  your  present  sup- 
ply is  exhausted.  The  following  information  will  be  of  value 
in  governing  your  next  order : 

This  shipment  of was  made 19 

It  consisted  of M ,  M ,  and M 

We  are  in  possession  of electrotypes  of 


to  facilitate  the  reproduction  of  this  work  in  the  future. 

We  will  reproduce  this  order,  with  a  guarantee  of  the  same 

quality  of  stock  and  workmanship,  for  $ Will 

be  pleased  to  quote  prices  on  larger  or  smaller  quantities. 

In  reoidering  please  give  our  order  No. or  enclose 

a  copy  from  this  consignment. 

Mark  all  alterations  from  original  copy  plainly. 

We  can  make  delivery  within days  of  receipt  of  re- 
order. 

THE  INGLESIDE  PRESS 

8  Stationers  Ave. 

Pica,  O. 

REORDER  BLANK 

The  Ingleside  Press  Our  order  No 


8  Stationers  Ave.,  Pica,  O.  Printer's  last 

Order  No. 

PLEASE  duplicate  order  for  printing  and  binding 

copies  of as  per  your  order  No of 19 

(Copy  attached)  and  charge  to  account  of 


Figure  73 


136  Practical  Printing 

trated  as  model  examples  of  what  these  devices   should 
be  (Figures  71  and  72). 

Few  printers  recognize  the  value  of  keeping  their  ship- 
ping clerks  well  supplied  with  blotters,  calendars  and 
other  advertising  devices.  These  should  be  enclosed  with 
every  shipment.  Blotters  are  always  appreciated  when 


KEEP  THIS   FOR   FUTURE   REFERENCE 


Chicago 


Received  of  G.  G.  RENNEKER  CO.,  Printers 
233  RANDOLPH  ST. 

The  Following  goods  in  first-class  condition: 


Job  No. Signed^ 


Figure  74 

sent  with  consignments  of  office  stationery  and  they  are 
sure  to  act  as  gentle  reminders  to  the  customer  in  re- 
ordering. A  clever  scheme,  which  is  very  fruitful  in  its 
results,  has  been  used  for  more  than  ten  years  by  one  of 
the  most  successful  printers  in  Chicago.  The  idea  con- 
sists of  a  sort  of  reminder  and  an  order  blank  which  is 
enclosed  with  every  package  of  printing  sent  out.  In  gen- 
eral construction  it  is  as  shown  in  Figure  73. 


JOB  NO REQ.  NO.. 

Chicago 


Received  in  Good  Order  From 

The  Franklin  Company 

DESIGNERS  :  ENGRAVERS 
ELECTROTYPERS  :  PRINTERS 

Phone  Harrison  1224  346-350  Dearborn  St. 


-HALF  TONES 


-ZINC  ETCHINGS 


i/AX    ENGRAVINGS 


-WOOD   ENGRAVINGS. 

ELECTROTYPES  

-STEREOTYPES      


-PHOTOS —NEGATIVES- 

-DRAWINGS— — 

-COPIES   SKETCHES- 

-PROOFS — 


-PATTERNS 


SIGNED. 


Figure  75 


138  Practical  Printing 

The  reminder  should  be  filled  in  by  the  superintendent 
and  a  sufficient  number  of  copies  to  supply  all  of  the 
packages  in  the  consignment  should  be  reproduced  on  a 
copying  press. 

One  of  the  most  frequent  causes  of  loss  to  the  printer 
is  the  delivery  of  short  count.  Errors  of  this  kind  are 
usually  due  to  basing  count  upon  ream  lots  and  paper 
house  shipments  without  considering  or  allowing  for 
spoilage  in  printing  or  poor  stock.  Strict  use  of  and  at- 
tention to  press  counters  is  advised  as  the  only  certain 
precaution  against  loss  of  this  kind.  All  statements  of 
quantity  in  any  shipment  should  be  filled  in  the  shipping 
receipt  from  figures  supplied  by  the  pressman's  counter 
register. 

Never  make  a  delivery  without  obtaining  the  signature 
of  the  recipient  of  the  goods.  This  signed  receipt  should 
contain  the  exact  number  of  packages  delivered  and  the 
quantity  and  a  description  of  the  goods  in  each.  For  de- 
livery of  a  small  package  containing  a  single  order  a  very 
ordinary  receipt  will  answer  if  made  out  in  duplicate 
(Figure  74).  Another  common  form  as  used  by  engravers 
is  shown  (Figure  75).  Instructions  to  the  shipping  clerk 
are  usually  simplified  in  this  form  (Figure  76). 

Large  editions  of  pretentious  catalogs  and  books  should 
never  be  shipped  in  paper  wrapped  bundles.  Work  of 
this  kind  should  be  carefully  packed  with  protecting  ma- 
terials in  wooden  cases.  Specified  quantities  should  be 
bundled  before  boxing  with  protecting  straw  boards  over 
the  edges  to  prevent  the  ropes  or  twine  from  damaging 
the  work.  A  bundling  machine  as  used  in  well-equipped 
binderies  and  shipping-rooms  is  shown  (Figure  77). 


In  the  Shipping-room  139 

Halftone  cuts  and  engravings  should  be  separately 
well  wrapped  in  soft  paper  with  an  outer  covering  of  cor- 
rugated straw  board  and  then  boxed  in  wood.  Mail  ship- 
ments of  engravers'  proofs  and  individual  prints  will  ar- 
rive at  destination  in  first-class  condition  if  enclosed  in 


To 

J)atM                                                         19 



EX    COLLECT—  PREPAID 

MAIL—  FIRST-CLASS—  SPECIAL  DELIVERY 

Figure  76 

substantial  mailing  tubes.  The  best  tubes  now  on  the 
market  are  made  of  pasted  layers  of  spirally  twisted 
strawboard. 

The  well-equipped  shipping-room  should  be  supplied 
with  stenciled  letters  for  addressing  wooden  boxes,  ad- 
dressing brushes,  stencil  paint,  nail  pullers,  sheet-iron 


140 


Practical  Printing 


bands  for  strengthening  boxes  for  long  shipment  by 
freight,  crating  lumber  in  strips,  corrugated  strawboard, 
sealing  wax  in  sticks,  complete  sets  of  tags  and  labels  in 
various  sizes,  mailing  tubes,  cardboard  shipping  boxes,  a 
zinc  covered  wrapping  or  bundling  table,  eighteen-inch 
shears  for  cutting  ropes  and  cords,  standard  platform 
scales  for  verifying  and  checking  weights,  platform  and 


warehouse  trucks,  and  wrapping  paper  of  several  widths 
in  the  web  improved  reels  with  straight  edge  tearing 
devices. 

Finally,  in  the  completion  of  your  shipping  facilities, 
do  not  overlook  your  delivery  wagon.  Here  is  a  real 
means  of  giving  your  business  local  publicity.  A  coat  of 


In  the  Shipping-room  141 

paint  occasionally  will  keep  it  fresh  and  new,  and  above 
all  do  not  neglect  the  use  of  your  imprint,  your  trade- 
mark or  your  office  device  as  a  prominent  part  of  your 
wagon  decoration. 


BOOKS  ABOUT  PRINTING 

THE  AMERICAN  MANUAL  OF  PRESSWORK.  This  is  with- 
out doubt  the  most  valuable  book  that  has  ever  been  prepared 
for  pressmen.  Nothing  so  elaborate  or  exhaustive  has  ever  before 
been  attempted,  and  its  value  to  anyone  interested  in  the  success- 
ful operation  of  presses,  with  some  account  of  their  origin  and 
development,  is  inestimable.  The  book  contains  164  pages,  9x 
12*4,  is  handsomely  and  substantially  bound  and  generously 
illustrated.  Price  $4.00. 

THE  ART  AND  PRACTICE  OF  TYPOGRAPHY.  By  Edmund 
G.  Gress.  This  is  the  most  elaborate  and  practical  book  ever 
published  in  the  interest  of  the  commercial  typographic  printer. 
It  is  unique  in  the  comprehensive  treatment  given  the  subject  of 
typography  from  the  job  printer's  viewpoint.  The  various  phases 
are  dealt  with  interestingly  and  instructively  by  word  and  illus- 
tration. While  absolutely  practical,  there  is  an  atmosphere  of 
art  permeating  every  page.  The  book  contains  fifty  large  inserts 
in  color  and  seven  hundred  reproductions,  mostly  in  color,  of 
high-class  commercial  printing  by  some  of  America's  best  typo- 
graphers. 250  pages,  9y2xl2y2,  cloth,  postpaid  $5.00. 

THE  AMERICAN  PRINTER.  A  monthly  magazine  for  em- 
ploy ing  printers,  superintendents,  foremen  and  ambitious  journey- 
men. It  presents  and  discusses  all  that  is  progressive  and  im- 
portant in  the  printing  industry.  Specimens  of  printing  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  States  are  reviewed  monthly,  and  the  best 
reproduced.  Jobs  are  reset  and  shown  in  colors  and  typographic 
competitions  are  conducted  half-yearly.  Handsome  inserts  in  color 
appear  in  every  number.  Size,  9x12,  subscription  $3.00  a  year  in 
U.  S.,  30  cents  a  copy,  150  and  more  pages  monthly. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  MONEY  IN  THE  PRINTING  BUSINESS. 
By  Paul  Nathan.  Give  value  and  "charge  the  price"  might  be 
an  answer  to  this  question;  but  there  is  a  very  complete  and 
comprehensive  answer  in  Paul  Nathan's  book  of  288  pages,  bear- 
ing this  title;  and  every  progressive  printer  should  own  the 
volume.  The  book  gives  full  details  and  information  on  the 
highest  authority — experience.  It  tells  how  a  man  made  money 


out  of  printing — a  thing  we  all  are  anxious  to  do.  288  pages, 
5%x9,  cloth,  postpaid  $3.00. 

PAY  ROLL  TABLES.  Save  your  bookkeeper's  time  and  avoid 
errors  in  making  up  the  pay  roll.  These  Pay  Roll  Tables  are  in 
convenient  form,  printed  on  strong  bristol  board,  and  may  be  had 
for  either  eight  or  nine  hours  a  day.  With  these  tables  the  amount 
for  any  number  of  hours  or  minutes  at  any  rate  from  50  cents  to 
$31.00  a  week  can  be  quickly  ascertained.  50  cents  a  set.  When 
ordering  state  whether  tables  for  eight  or  nine  hours  are  wanted. 

THE  AMERICAN  HANDBOOK  OF  PRINTING.  By  Edmund 
G.  Gress.  This  book  is  intended  to  furnish  a  quick  means  of 
learning  practical  and  historical  facts  about  all  departments  of 
printing.  The  author  has  gathered  together  a  large  quantity  of 
interesting  information  and  gives  it  tersely  and  without  waste 
of  words.  One  hundred  type-faces  are  shown  and  explained.  300 
pages,  51/8x71/2,  cloth,  postpaid  $2.00. 

TYPE  DESIGNS  IN  COLOR.  A  portfolio  of  more  than  one 
hundred  full-size  type  designs,  from  actual  customers'  copy, 
printed  in  various  two-color  harmonies,  on  fine  quality  colored 
stock.  Foremen  and  layout  men  should  have  this  book.  9x12, 
paper,  postpaid  $1.00. 

POCKET  GUIDE  TO  PRINTING.  There  are  a  thousand  and 
one  things  buried  in  larger  books  but  made  available  in  this 
handy  little  volume  of  vest-pocket  size.  48  pages,  S^xGVfc,  cloth, 
postpaid  50  cents. 

MAKING  READY  ON  PLATEN  PRESSES.  Many  practical 
and  useful  hints  for  the  man  in  the  press-room.  5*4x7,  40  pages, 
paper,  postpaid  50  cents. 

A  SYSTEM  FOR  A  MEDIUM  SIZED  PRINTSHOP.  5*4x7, 
24  pages,  paper,  postpaid,  50  cents. 

EMBOSSING— HOW  IT  IS  DONE.  This  pamphlet  tells  how  to 
get  the  best  results  in  embossing.  Pressmen  need  it.  51/ix7,  16 
pages,  paper,  postpaid  25  cents. 

OSWALD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
25  City  Hall  Place,  New  York 


GENERAL  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA— BERKELEY 


RETURN   i 
This  book  is 


^  ££,OM  WHICH  BORROWED 

*  .SCHOOIj  XjJBRARY 

lue  on  me  last  date  stairipeaDelow,  or  on  the 
date  to  which  renewed. 


Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


DEC 


LD  21-100m-l,'54(1887sl6)476 


>    ^ 

-» 

* 

/  ^25952  . 


